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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rash — a series
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. swing — to play on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. cue — for pool
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — after costs
  14. mine — for digging
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cue — a hint
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. net — in sport
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. squash — the vegetable

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