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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: patient · wax · rush · coach · rash · trunk · kick · cold

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. cold — not warm
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — an illness
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. kick — in football
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. rash — a series
  24. rush — to hurry

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