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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mug — a face
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — a video
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. clip — to cut
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cold — an illness
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. plane — a tool
  12. craft — a skill
  13. spring — a coil
  14. roll — a list
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mug — to rob
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. craft — boats
  19. cold — not warm
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. mug — a cup
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wind — to turn a key

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