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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. rest — what's left
  3. lean — thin
  4. degree — from a university
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lean — to bend
  9. last — to go on
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — an amount
  13. file — a tool
  14. object — an aim
  15. clip — to cut
  16. degree — temperature
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. object — to protest
  19. object — a thing
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — to paddle

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