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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — a video
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stem — to come from
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rash — a series
  12. club — for golf
  13. mark — a trace
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. kick — in football
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. club — a group
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. mark — a grade
  24. clip — for paper

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