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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: stick · land · file · patient · wax · kid · perch · snap

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. kid — to tease
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. land — to come down
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. land — a country
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. perch — the fish
  15. file — a line of people
  16. land — ground
  17. snap — to click
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. wax — to grow

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