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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. last — to go on
  6. cell — a phone
  7. clip — a video
  8. press — to push
  9. last — final
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. last — finally
  16. snap — to click
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mark — a grade
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — for paper
  22. press — newspapers
  23. mark — a trace
  24. bat — for baseball

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