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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: field · wax · trunk · game · lean · cold · net · patient

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. field — for sport
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. lean — to bend
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. net — after costs
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. lean — thin
  13. game — a match
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. field — a subject
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — not warm
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — in sport
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — farmland

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