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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: perch · band · bulb · wax · patient · chest · fan · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. band — a ring
  3. rash — a series
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. band — a music group
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — a box
  24. patient — a sick person

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