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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: safe · straw · file · staff · pitch · clip · bear · cold

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. file — a document
  5. bear — the animal
  6. staff — employees
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. file — a line of people
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. bear — the animal
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pitch — completely
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. file — a tool

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