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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. content — happy
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. last — final
  7. hand — help
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. last — finally
  12. rule — government
  13. clip — to cut
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. clip — a video
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. content — the amount
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rule — a law
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — an illness
  24. leaves — lets stay

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