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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. race — a contest
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. tear — to rip
  7. race — the arms race
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. content — happy
  11. tear — from crying
  12. clip — a video
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. content — the amount
  15. tear — from crying
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. clip — for paper
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — to cut
  20. snap — to click
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. race — humankind
  24. foot — part of the body

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