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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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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. pitch — completely
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. toast — bread
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chip — to eat
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a leader
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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