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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — for paper
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. hand — help
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — to come down
  17. rest — a break
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — a video
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. hand — in cards

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