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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. perch — the fish
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. bound — certain
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bound — obliged
  7. swing — music
  8. bound — tied together
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. spring — the season
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cap — of ice
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. clip — for paper
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spring — of water
  24. cap — a lid

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