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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. charge — electricity
  3. march — music
  4. chip — to eat
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fork — in a road
  12. kid — child
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chip — for betting
  16. march — the month
  17. chest — a box
  18. march — the month
  19. charge — in control
  20. charge — a price
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitch — completely

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