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 120 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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. band — a music group
  3. game — wild animals
  4. present — there
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fall — to drop
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fall — the season
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fall — to drop
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. game — a match
  17. present — a gift
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. present — the time now
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. band — a ring
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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