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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 124 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: wax · band · wind · patient · dip · kick · mine · cold

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. band — a ring
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. kick — in football
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cold — an illness
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wind — moving air
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. dip — to sink
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. band — a music group
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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