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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: wake · race · kick · rash · court · fall · prune · hand

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hand — help
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rash — hasty
  7. court — of law
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. court — of a king
  11. fall — the season
  12. court — for sport
  13. race — a contest
  14. prune — to trim
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. race — humankind
  20. fall — to drop
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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