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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. clip — a video
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. capital — a city
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. rush — hurry
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. rash — hasty
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. rash — a series
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — money
  24. rush — to hurry

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