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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. mate — a partner
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. degree — an amount
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. net — for catching
  16. degree — temperature
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. mate — to breed
  20. net — after costs
  21. mate — a friend
  22. net — in sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. game — a kind of play

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