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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: court · wax · arm · rest · degree · ground · mine · race

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rest — what's left
  3. ground — the earth
  4. race — a contest
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rest — a break
  9. ground — a position
  10. degree — an amount
  11. court — of a king
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — temperature
  18. court — for sport
  19. mine — for digging
  20. degree — from a university
  21. court — of law
  22. race — humankind
  23. ground — crushed
  24. arm — a part of something

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