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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: scale · rule · track · cold · patient · land · clip · club

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. land — ground
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rule — government
  6. track — to keep track
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — a video
  10. club — for dancing
  11. land — a country
  12. club — a group
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. club — for golf
  15. cold — an illness
  16. scale — in music
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. land — to come down
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. clip — for paper
  21. track — a song
  22. rule — a law
  23. scale — size or range
  24. clip — to cut

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