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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — to come down
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. vault — a safe
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. land — a country
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. kid — child
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. plane — a tool
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. land — ground
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a cake
  24. plane — an aircraft

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