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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: tear · rule · chair · last · straw · sharp · file · firm

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. firm — a company
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. chair — a leader
  5. file — a line of people
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rule — a law
  8. file — a document
  9. last — final
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — finally
  13. sharp — clever
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rule — government
  16. tear — from crying
  17. last — to go on
  18. firm — steady
  19. firm — decided
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rule — to rule out

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