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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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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: patient · staff · object · vault · cold · hand · racket · wax

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. staff — a stick
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. object — to protest
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. vault — a safe
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — to grow
  11. object — a thing
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. staff — employees
  17. object — an aim
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. staff — employees
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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