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 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.

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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. spell — a short time
  5. clip — a video
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. clip — to cut
  8. chest — a box
  9. stem — to come from
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — for paper
  14. file — a tool
  15. spell — letters
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. jam — to spread on bread

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