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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: prune · mine · squash · degree · nail · track · band · tear

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tear — to rip
  4. track — a song
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. degree — from a university
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. degree — temperature
  9. band — a ring
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. degree — an amount
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a music group
  14. tear — from crying
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. track — a path
  17. tear — from crying
  18. track — to keep track
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the sport
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. nail — for a hammer

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