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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: race · degree · trunk · coach · ground · land · bore · spell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. degree — from a university
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. spell — a short time
  6. ground — the earth
  7. spell — letters
  8. ground — a position
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bore — to tire
  18. land — to come down
  19. degree — temperature
  20. race — humankind
  21. spell — magic
  22. ground — crushed
  23. land — ground
  24. land — a country

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