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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bark — to shout
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. shower — rain
  9. field — a subject
  10. bear — the animal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. fork — in a road
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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