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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — low music
  6. mine — for digging
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. drill — army training
  10. track — a path
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bass — the fish
  13. fork — in a road
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. track — to keep track
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rock — a stone
  22. drill — the tool
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. track — a song

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