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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: current · tear · swing · spring · track · mark · fall · land

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. land — ground
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fall — to drop
  5. swing — in golf
  6. fall — the season
  7. mark — a trace
  8. track — to keep track
  9. swing — to play on
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. spring — the season
  13. track — a song
  14. fall — to drop
  15. current — of water
  16. land — to come down
  17. spring — of water
  18. track — a path
  19. current — electric
  20. tear — from crying
  21. land — a country
  22. current — happening now
  23. spring — a coil
  24. swing — music

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