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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: chair · straw · rock · band · chip · file · fall · sharp

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. file — a tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. sharp — clever
  10. file — a document
  11. chip — for betting
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rock — a stone
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a ring
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. rock — music
  20. fall — the season
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. file — a line of people
  24. sharp — exactly

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