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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. last — final
  4. tube — the underground
  5. spring — the season
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kid — child
  9. last — to go on
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. clip — a video
  12. spring — of water
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — to cut
  18. craft — boats
  19. craft — a skill
  20. spring — a coil
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. clip — for paper
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. calf — a young animal

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