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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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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: race · wax · court · last · face · kick · prune · arm

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. face — to confront
  3. kick — in football
  4. court — for sport
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. prune — to trim
  9. face — to point toward
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. race — humankind
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. race — the arms race
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. last — finally
  21. race — a contest
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. face — part of the head

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