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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: vault · file · land · ground · mate · patient · cell · wax

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. ground — crushed
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. wax — to grow
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mate — to breed
  12. vault — a safe
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mate — a partner
  15. land — a country
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. ground — the earth
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. land — to come down
  21. file — a document
  22. ground — a position
  23. land — ground
  24. cell — a phone

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