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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: cell · track · wound · band · leaves · chest · land · rock

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. track — a path
  3. band — a music group
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a ring
  6. cell — in biology
  7. track — a song
  8. wound — an injury
  9. land — ground
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. rock — a stone
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. land — to come down
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. land — a country
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. track — to keep track
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — a phone

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