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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. track — to keep track
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. band — a music group
  8. land — ground
  9. prune — to trim
  10. band — a ring
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down

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