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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tear — to rip
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. fine — high quality
  8. cell — in biology
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — shares
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. fine — all right
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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