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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. mark — a trace
  3. file — a document
  4. clip — a video
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a match
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. chest — of your body
  11. net — after costs
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a tool
  20. net — for catching
  21. mark — a grade
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — wild animals

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