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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 · rest · degree · prune · track · key · band · stem

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. key — in music
  5. stem — to come from
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — the most important part
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. track — a song
  10. rest — what's left
  11. track — to keep track
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. track — a path
  18. band — a music group
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. degree — from a university
  22. rest — a break
  23. band — a ring
  24. degree — temperature

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