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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 · shower · mate · march · rest · kick · content

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. 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. rest — what's left
  2. net — in sport
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kick — in football
  5. mate — a partner
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. rest — a break
  8. net — after costs
  9. mate — a friend
  10. march — the month
  11. mate — to breed
  12. march — music
  13. content — the amount
  14. cell — in biology
  15. shower — rain
  16. march — the month
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rest — what's left
  21. shower — to wash
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cell — a phone
  24. 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