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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — ground
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. branch — a division
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. clip — a video
  12. land — a country
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. clip — to cut

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