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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: degree · race · coach · craft · snap · key · chair · drill

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — a contest
  3. craft — boats
  4. degree — from a university
  5. key — in music
  6. drill — army training
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. key — the most important part
  10. drill — a practice
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. craft — a skill
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. degree — temperature
  17. key — for a lock
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. drill — the tool
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — the arms race
  24. coach — a trainer

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