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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. ball — a dance
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. ball — a great time
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — in biology
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a path
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — a tool
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. clip — to cut
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. hand — help
  18. cell — a phone
  19. clip — for paper
  20. spring — the season
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. spring — of water
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. plane — an aircraft

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