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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: land · hide · temple · bass · wax · field · roll · patient

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. roll — a cake
  4. land — a country
  5. field — a subject
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. land — ground
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — farmland
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. wax — to grow
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — for sport
  17. bass — the fish
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — low music

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