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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. drill — army training
  5. content — happy
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cell — a phone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cell — in biology
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — the tool
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. squash — to crush
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — the amount
  24. chest — a box

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