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

Word bank: content · present · fall · pitch · cold · straw · snap · chip

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — a gift
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. present — there
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. content — happy
  14. fall — the season
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — completely
  19. snap — to click
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fall — to drop
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. chip — for betting

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