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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. can — a tin
  3. land — a country
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. clip — for paper
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. can — to be able to
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — money
  11. land — to come down
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — a video
  15. can — a tin
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. capital — a city
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. race — humankind
  24. mine — for digging

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