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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — a country
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mate — a friend
  8. clip — to cut
  9. track — a path
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. track — to keep track
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stock — shares
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pound — a weight
  17. land — ground
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. clip — a video
  20. stock — goods
  21. land — to come down
  22. track — a song
  23. mate — to breed
  24. pound — for dogs

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