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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.

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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 · track · lean · nail · cold · key · prune · content

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cold — an illness
  4. track — a path
  5. lean — thin
  6. key — the most important part
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. key — in music
  11. land — a country
  12. track — to keep track
  13. lean — to bend
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — to come down
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — a song
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. key — for a lock

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