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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. rash — hasty
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — of a king
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. snap — to click
  10. clip — for paper
  11. file — a document
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. chip — for betting
  14. court — of law
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. clip — a video
  17. court — for sport
  18. perch — the fish
  19. file — a line of people
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. file — a tool
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. rash — a series

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