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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chip — to eat
  4. band — a ring
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bore — to tire
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. band — a music group
  9. chip — for betting
  10. pitch — completely
  11. kid — child
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cell — a phone
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. row — a line
  19. kid — to tease
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bore — to drill
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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