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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: band · squash · ball · wax · pitcher · deal · cold · patient

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. deal — to handle
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cold — an illness
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. ball — a dance
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — not warm
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. ball — a great time
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. band — a music group

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