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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. content — the amount
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. game — a match
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — in a race
  15. content — happy
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pit — a hole
  18. clip — for paper
  19. can — to be able to
  20. pop — soda
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. pop — to visit
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. clip — a video

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