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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. clip — a video
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bass — low music
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. capital — a city
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. ball — a dance
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. tear — from crying
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. ball — a great time
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. clip — to cut

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