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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: wax · row · field · capital · march · band · dip · patient

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. capital — money
  3. field — farmland
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. field — a subject
  9. march — the month
  10. capital — a city
  11. band — a music group
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. march — music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. row — a line
  17. field — for sport
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. dip — to sink
  21. row — to paddle
  22. march — the month
  23. wax — to grow
  24. band — a ring

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