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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. season — in sport
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. fine — high quality
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — of the year
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bark — to shout
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — child
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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