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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. season — in sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — a practice
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. drill — army training
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a tool
  12. scale — size or range
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — for paper
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. season — of the year
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. scale — in music
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — to cut
  24. safe — a strongbox

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