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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. charge — a price
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. clip — a video
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — for dancing
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. club — a group
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chair — a leader
  19. club — for golf
  20. charge — electricity
  21. charge — in control
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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