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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: cell · coach · mug · land · clip · kick · wave · last

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. kick — in football
  2. land — to come down
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. last — final
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — in biology
  7. land — a country
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cell — a phone
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. last — to go on
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — a face
  18. last — finally
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. clip — a video
  22. mug — to rob
  23. land — ground
  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