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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: staff · chair · track · rule · clip · hand · rest · pit

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. staff — a stick
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rest — a break
  5. hand — help
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chair — a leader
  8. track — to keep track
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. track — a song
  11. clip — a video
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. rule — government
  16. staff — employees
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — to cut
  19. track — a path
  20. staff — employees
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — for paper
  24. hand — in cards

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