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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wax · chair · band · field · ball · clip · patient · shower

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. band — a ring
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — to grow
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. shower — to wash
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a music group
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chair — a leader
  15. clip — for paper
  16. field — farmland
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. field — for sport
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ball — a great time
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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