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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · craft · net · pitcher · wax · field · rest · patient

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. kid — child
  4. net — after costs
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. craft — a skill
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. field — for sport
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. craft — boats
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. field — farmland
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rest — what's left
  19. field — a subject
  20. net — for catching
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. kid — to tease
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com