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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. scale — in music
  3. roll — a cake
  4. hand — in cards
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bat — the animal
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fine — all right
  11. hand — help
  12. scale — size or range
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. clip — for paper
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a list
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fine — high quality
  24. bat — for baseball

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