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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. capital — money
  3. wound — an injury
  4. hand — in cards
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cold — an illness
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — help
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. clip — a video
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. capital — a city
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — a jug

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