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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: key · cold · perch · chair · pit · foot · lash · rule

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. perch — the fish
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. pit — in a race
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. foot — a measure
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. cold — not warm
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rule — government
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. key — for a lock
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. pit — a hole
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. rule — a law

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