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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 · ruler · sharp · pitch · stock · straw · clip · band

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stock — shares
  8. sharp — clever
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — to cut
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. band — a ring
  18. clip — a video
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. band — a music group

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