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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: pop · row · cabinet · last · trunk · shower · race · degree

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. race — humankind
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. shower — to wash
  6. last — final
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. row — a line
  12. race — a contest
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. shower — rain
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pop — soda
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. last — to go on
  21. pop — to visit
  22. row — to paddle
  23. last — finally
  24. pop — music

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