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 116 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spell — letters
  3. mug — to rob
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. mug — a face
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a line of people
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. mug — a cup
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a match
  15. kick — in football
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. game — wild animals
  18. band — a music group
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. band — a ring
  22. spell — a short time
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. nail — for a hammer

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