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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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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: wound · swing · patient · mate · root · wave · cold · wax

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mate — a friend
  4. wax — to grow
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wound — an injury
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wound — an injury
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — the cause
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. swing — music
  17. mate — a partner
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. root — of a plant
  22. mate — to breed
  23. cold — not warm
  24. swing — in golf

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