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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. last — to go on
  6. kick — in football
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. spring — the season
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. rule — government
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rule — a law
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. spring — of water

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