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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: net · cell · mate · kick · clip · wave

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. mate — a partner
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. clip — for paper
  6. net — in sport
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — to breed
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cell — a phone
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching

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