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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: kid · key · straw · perch · chair · rash · mate · stock

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. mate — a friend
  6. rash — a series
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stock — goods
  12. chair — a leader
  13. stock — shares
  14. key — for a lock
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. key — the most important part
  17. perch — the fish
  18. key — in music
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mate — a partner
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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