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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: court · last · tear · field · lash · fork · patient · wax

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. field — for sport
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. last — finally
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. fork — in a road
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. last — final
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. tear — from crying
  14. court — of law
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. last — to go on
  20. wax — to grow
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. field — a subject
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. patient — a sick person

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