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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: pitch · chair · vault · clip · bat · key · bank · file

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. vault — a safe
  3. clip — to cut
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. key — for a lock
  8. file — a tool
  9. bank — for money
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. key — in music
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bank — for money
  14. key — the most important part
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pitch — completely
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. file — a document
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. clip — a video

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