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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. game — a match
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pitch — completely
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wound — an injury
  14. game — wild animals
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. wind — moving air

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