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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — to cut
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. clip — for paper
  19. shower — rain
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wound — an injury
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. snap — to click

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