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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: cold · wax · lean · hand · patient · pop · court · key

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pop — soda
  6. lean — to bend
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of law
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — help
  11. court — for sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. key — for a lock
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lean — thin
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. key — in music
  24. court — of a king

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