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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: drill · track · band · wind · hand · prune · leaves · mate

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. track — to keep track
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a path
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. track — a song
  14. band — a ring
  15. mate — a friend
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — moving air
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — help
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wind — moving air
  24. drill — army training

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