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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 120 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 · perch · foot · clip · cell · tear · kid · mate

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — the fish
  5. foot — a measure
  6. net — in sport
  7. kid — child
  8. net — after costs
  9. mate — to breed
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — for catching
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tear — from crying
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. mate — a partner
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cell — a phone
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. foot — the bottom

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