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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. shower — to wash
  3. tear — from crying
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. vault — a safe
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. clip — for paper
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. tear — to rip
  18. row — to paddle
  19. game — a match
  20. shower — rain
  21. row — a line
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — a video
  24. perch — the fish

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