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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: rest · cell · clip · suit · lie · kid · net · game

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lie — to recline
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. suit — in cards
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. clip — a video
  11. suit — to fit
  12. game — a match
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cell — a phone
  15. game — wild animals
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. rest — what's left
  18. net — in sport
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rest — a break
  23. cell — in biology
  24. suit — clothes

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