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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. race — a contest
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. race — humankind
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. snap — to click
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. hand — in cards
  17. scale — size or range
  18. hand — help
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. fine — all right
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. game — wild animals
  24. scale — in music

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