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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. net — in sport
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. net — after costs
  7. rash — a series
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. saw — the tool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — for paper
  20. net — for catching
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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