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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. ball — a dance
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. file — a tool
  11. branch — a division
  12. clip — a video
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ball — a great time
  17. file — a document
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. clip — for paper
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. shower — rain
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. shower — to wash
  24. pound — for dogs

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