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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. present — there
  3. track — a song
  4. kid — child
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — a gift
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bark — to shout
  11. last — final
  12. present — the time now
  13. last — finally
  14. track — a path
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. key — in music
  24. track — to keep track

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