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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: court · scale · degree · current · race · hand · club · date

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. court — of a king
  4. current — happening now
  5. current — electric
  6. hand — help
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. current — of water
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — an amount
  11. scale — size or range
  12. race — a contest
  13. scale — in music
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of law
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. court — for sport
  18. hand — in cards
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — temperature
  21. race — the arms race
  22. club — for dancing
  23. date — the fruit
  24. club — for golf

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