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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kid — child
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. land — ground
  9. season — in sport
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — a video
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. land — to come down
  18. season — of the year
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — to shout
  21. land — a country
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rule — a law

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