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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. cold — not warm
  3. can — a tin
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spell — a short time
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spell — magic
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bore — to tire
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. clip — a video
  16. spell — letters
  17. game — a match
  18. bore — to drill
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. can — to be able to
  22. rule — government
  23. cold — an illness
  24. can — a tin

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