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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: straw · cell · toast · chair · clip · pop · rest · staff

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. rest — what's left
  3. staff — employees
  4. rest — a break
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — for paper
  7. staff — a stick
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. staff — employees
  16. pop — soda
  17. rest — what's left
  18. toast — bread
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pop — music
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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