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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pit — a hole
  3. fall — the season
  4. game — a match
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — a video
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fall — to drop
  13. drill — a practice
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — army training
  16. content — the amount
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pit — in a race
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fall — to drop
  24. calf — a young animal

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