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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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Word bank
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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: staff · game · clip · straw · last · chip · lean · scale

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. game — a match
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. last — final
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. staff — employees
  10. game — wild animals
  11. last — to go on
  12. chip — for betting
  13. clip — to cut
  14. lean — thin
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. scale — size or range
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — a video
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. staff — employees
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chip — to eat
  23. scale — in music
  24. last — finally

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