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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. file — a tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. field — a subject
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bank — for money
  8. file — a document
  9. clip — for paper
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — a video
  21. kid — child
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. nail — for a hammer

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