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 116 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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — to cut
  4. march — the month
  5. wound — an injury
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. sharp — clever
  8. march — music
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. march — the month
  12. net — in sport
  13. track — a path
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. drill — a practice
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wound — an injury
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — a video
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. track — to keep track
  23. net — for catching
  24. drill — army training

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