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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. branch — a division
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. court — of a king
  6. pop — soda
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pop — music
  13. court — of law
  14. pop — to visit
  15. bat — the animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. rash — a series
  19. track — a path
  20. court — for sport
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. branch — of a tree

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