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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · wound · chair · lean · object · key · field · clip

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. object — to protest
  3. field — farmland
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. lean — to bend
  7. field — a subject
  8. key — the most important part
  9. object — a thing
  10. chair — a leader
  11. object — an aim
  12. staff — a stick
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. staff — employees
  16. key — for a lock
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lean — thin
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. clip — a video
  22. key — in music
  23. staff — employees
  24. field — for sport

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