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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.

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: straw · wax · chip · rash · fork · field · patient · pitcher

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. wax — to grow
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. fork — in a road
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. rash — a series
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — for betting
  16. rash — hasty
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. field — farmland
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. chip — to eat
  24. pitcher — a jug

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