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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: plane · drill · trunk · capital · lash · race · degree · sharp

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — an amount
  4. race — a contest
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. race — the arms race
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. plane — a tool
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. drill — a practice
  12. capital — money
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. sharp — clever
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — a city
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. race — humankind
  22. degree — temperature
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — the tool

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