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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: scale · fall · land · track · patient · march · spring · lean

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — thin
  3. march — music
  4. spring — of water
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. track — a path
  7. lean — to bend
  8. spring — a coil
  9. land — to come down
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — in music
  12. march — the month
  13. land — ground
  14. march — the month
  15. track — a song
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fall — to drop
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. track — to keep track
  20. spring — the season
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. fall — the season
  24. land — a country

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