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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — to cut
  4. swing — in golf
  5. clip — for paper
  6. vault — a safe
  7. spell — a short time
  8. net — after costs
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — a subject
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. field — for sport
  14. net — in sport
  15. swing — to play on
  16. field — farmland
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spell — magic
  19. swing — music
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. clip — a video
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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