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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.

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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: last · rock · wax · ball · patient · kid · clip · cold

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — a video
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rock — a stone
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. rock — music
  15. last — to go on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — finally
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. clip — to cut
  21. last — final
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — to grow

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