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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. fall — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. stand — to bear
  10. clip — a video
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mark — a trace
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. clip — to cut
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mark — a grade
  18. fall — to drop
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — a division
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. racket — for tennis

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