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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. file — a document
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cap — a lid
  8. clip — for paper
  9. band — a music group
  10. cap — of ice
  11. land — to come down
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. clip — a video
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pit — in a race
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. dip — to sink
  24. land — a country

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