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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. race — a contest
  8. perch — the fish
  9. shower — rain
  10. clip — a video
  11. ball — a great time
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a dance
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chair — a leader
  23. race — humankind
  24. cell — in biology

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