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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. squash — the sport
  3. mine — for digging
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rock — a stone
  6. tear — to rip
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. tear — from crying
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. squash — to crush
  12. race — a contest
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. capital — a city
  15. clip — for paper
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. race — the arms race
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. race — humankind
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. capital — money
  22. rock — music
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — from crying

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