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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. present — there
  7. content — happy
  8. present — the time now
  9. drill — army training
  10. clip — a video
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pass — a permit
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. drill — the tool
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — for paper
  18. hand — help
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. kid — child
  24. hand — in cards

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