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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. court — of law
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wake — a trail
  9. present — the time now
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. clip — a video
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. present — a gift
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — the animal

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