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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. last — to go on
  3. drill — a practice
  4. mine — for digging
  5. last — final
  6. shower — rain
  7. drill — army training
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. last — finally
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. clip — a video
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. scale — size or range
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. clip — to cut
  23. kick — in football
  24. drill — the tool

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