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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.

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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: coach · craft · drill · pop · race · shower · wound · degree

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. race — humankind
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. craft — boats
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pop — to visit
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — rain
  15. drill — a practice
  16. pop — soda
  17. degree — an amount
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pop — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. craft — a skill

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