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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · wax · snap · chest · field · patient · mine · can

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. can — a tin
  7. chest — a box
  8. can — to be able to
  9. scale — in music
  10. mine — for digging
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. chest — of your body
  16. field — farmland
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. field — a subject
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wax — to grow
  21. snap — to click
  22. can — a tin
  23. field — for sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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