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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. root — of a plant
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. clip — for paper
  7. root — of a word
  8. march — music
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cold — not warm
  11. club — a group
  12. march — the month
  13. content — happy
  14. club — for golf
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. root — the cause
  22. bulb — for light
  23. clip — to cut
  24. content — the amount

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