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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. clip — a video
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. wake — a trail
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — to cut
  10. field — for sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. capital — a city
  13. field — farmland
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mark — a grade
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bat — the animal

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