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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: ruler · trunk · cabinet · court · craft · ball · degree · net

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ball — a great time
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. craft — a skill
  8. court — of law
  9. degree — temperature
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — for catching
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. net — in sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ruler — a monarch

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