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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: bat · cabinet · band · mine · degree · rush · craft · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. degree — an amount
  3. band — a ring
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. degree — temperature
  6. craft — a skill
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. court — of a king
  15. craft — boats
  16. court — for sport
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. band — a music group
  22. rush — hurry
  23. mine — for digging
  24. band — a rubber band

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