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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 116 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: current · scale · band · trunk · hand · race · stem · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. hand — in cards
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. band — a music group
  7. club — a group
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. race — the arms race
  11. hand — help
  12. current — of water
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. scale — size or range
  15. band — a ring
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. current — electric
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. club — for golf
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. current — happening now
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. scale — in 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