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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. scale — size or range
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. scale — in music
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. clip — for paper
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. last — final
  22. drill — the tool
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — from crying

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