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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 116 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: patient · pound · track · fall · key · clip · cold · scale

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. track — a song
  3. cold — an illness
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. key — the most important part
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. track — a path
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — not warm
  14. scale — size or range
  15. key — in music
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — for a lock
  18. clip — a video
  19. fall — to drop
  20. clip — to cut
  21. scale — in music
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pound — a weight
  24. track — to keep track

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