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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  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. file — a document
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. present — a gift
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. file — a tool
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. clip — a video
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. present — the time now
  17. stand — to bear
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. clip — to cut
  23. present — there
  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