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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: bat · club · craft · chest · clip · field · court · trunk

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. bat — the animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. club — a group
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. craft — boats
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — a box
  12. court — of law
  13. field — farmland
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. court — of a king
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — a subject
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — for golf
  21. craft — a skill
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. field — for sport
  24. chest — of your body

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