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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. chair — a leader
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — to breed
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. staff — employees
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. mate — a partner
  12. staff — employees
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mate — a friend
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. chest — of your body
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. pitch — completely
  23. chest — a box
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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