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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 · scale · branch · fall · march · court · row · tear

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. march — the month
  4. fall — to drop
  5. march — the month
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. court — of a king
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fall — the season
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. tear — from crying
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. march — music
  16. court — of law
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wax — to grow
  23. court — for sport
  24. scale — in 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