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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to confront
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spring — a coil
  8. face — to point toward
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. season — in sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spring — the season
  17. clip — a video
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. season — of the year
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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