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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. rest — what's left
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rest — a break
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — happy
  12. mine — for digging
  13. content — the amount
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. clip — a video
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. rest — what's left
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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