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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fork — in a road
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spring — of water
  7. root — of a plant
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. clip — a video
  13. root — of a word
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. root — the cause
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mine — for digging
  19. saw — the tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fork — a garden tool

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