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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: hand · patient · court · net · plane · spell · wax · prune

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. plane — a tool
  4. hand — help
  5. court — of law
  6. prune — to trim
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. court — of a king
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. spell — letters
  19. hand — in cards
  20. court — for sport
  21. spell — a short time
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. spell — magic
  24. net — for catching

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