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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — ground
  5. roll — a list
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. capital — money
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. branch — a division
  10. land — to come down
  11. capital — a city
  12. roll — a cake
  13. land — a country
  14. clip — a video
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. sharp — clever
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bark — to shout
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. roll — on a roll

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