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 116 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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — child
  6. bat — the animal
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. face — to point toward
  12. last — finally
  13. hand — help
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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