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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. clip — a video
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. bat — the animal
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — for paper
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. land — ground
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. march — music
  24. nail — for a hammer

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