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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. tube — a container
  3. clip — to cut
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. face — to confront
  6. club — for dancing
  7. rest — what's left
  8. spring — the season
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rest — a break
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spring — of water
  13. file — a tool
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. face — to point toward
  17. club — a group
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rest — what's left
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. clip — for paper
  22. file — a document
  23. club — for golf
  24. clip — a video

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