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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 116 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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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: cold · club · wax · fork · patient · land · stick · wound

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. land — to come down
  3. fork — in a road
  4. cold — not warm
  5. club — a group
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. land — ground
  11. club — for dancing
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. cold — an illness
  15. land — a country
  16. club — for golf
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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