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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 120 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: land · wound · chest · rest · temple · prune · track · cap

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. track — to keep track
  3. rest — what's left
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — to come down
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cap — of ice
  10. prune — to trim
  11. land — a country
  12. cap — a lid
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. prune — to trim
  20. land — ground
  21. track — a song
  22. cap — a hat
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. track — a path

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