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

Word bank: straw · ruler · chair · pass · clip · last · pitch · track

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. track — to keep track
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. last — final
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — finally
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. track — a song
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. track — a path
  14. pass — a permit
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pitch — completely
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. last — to go on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chair — a leader
  24. ruler — for measuring

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