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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. drill — the tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. file — a tool
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. drill — a practice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — the season
  11. prune — to trim
  12. file — a document
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fall — to drop
  15. file — a line of people
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. clip — to cut
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. capital — a city
  22. shower — rain
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — money

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