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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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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: club · cabinet · clip · trunk · degree · race · court · bat

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bat — the animal
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. court — for sport
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. bat — for baseball

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