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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. rock — a stone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rock — music
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — happy
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rash — hasty
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. clip — a video
  21. tear — to rip
  22. rash — a series
  23. cold — not warm
  24. content — videos and posts

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