ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. wound — an injury
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — a video
  6. rush — hurry
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. spring — a coil
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. band — a music group
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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