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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — finally
  5. bound — tied together
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bound — certain
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. bound — obliged
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bark — to shout
  19. fork — in a road
  20. spring — the season
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. spring — of water
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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