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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: object · safe · clip · field · bank · chair · file · cold

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bank — for money
  4. object — to protest
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. object — a thing
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. field — a subject
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bank — of a river
  13. file — a document
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cold — not warm
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. object — an aim
  20. clip — for paper
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bank — for money

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