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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 120 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
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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: plane · fork · degree · spell · march · ground · coach · court

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. court — for sport
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — the earth
  8. march — music
  9. ground — crushed
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. court — of law
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. ground — a position
  15. march — the month
  16. degree — an amount
  17. court — of a king
  18. march — the month
  19. plane — a tool
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. spell — magic
  22. fork — in a road
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — an aircraft

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