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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. root — of a word
  3. clip — a video
  4. march — music
  5. spring — a coil
  6. stock — goods
  7. kid — child
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — of water
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. root — of a plant
  14. spring — the season
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. clip — to cut
  18. can — a tin
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cell — a phone
  23. root — the cause
  24. march — the month

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