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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 116 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 · clip · file · patient · straw · lie · safe · band

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. clip — a video
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. band — a ring
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. chair — a leader
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. clip — to cut
  16. lie — to recline
  17. band — a music group
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. file — a document
  24. clip — for paper

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