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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — the time now
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — a friend
  5. present — there
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. clip — a video
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mate — to breed
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. present — a gift
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bulb — for light

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