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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. lie — to recline
  3. staff — employees
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. mate — a friend
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. band — a music group
  11. staff — a stick
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mate — a partner
  14. field — a subject
  15. pit — a hole
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. chest — a box
  19. staff — employees
  20. chest — of your body
  21. band — a ring
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — farmland
  24. pit — in a race

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