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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. net — after costs
  4. present — the time now
  5. degree — from a university
  6. prune — to trim
  7. present — there
  8. clip — a video
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. present — a gift
  16. cap — a hat
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cap — of ice
  19. prune — to trim
  20. net — for catching
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — an amount
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bat — for baseball

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