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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stock — goods
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. swing — music
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — a country
  13. swing — in golf
  14. clip — a video
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stock — shares
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. land — ground
  21. toast — bread
  22. cold — an illness
  23. swing — to play on
  24. clip — for paper

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