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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. perch — the fish
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — child
  8. capital — money
  9. staff — employees
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tube — the underground
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. clip — to cut
  15. tube — a container
  16. hand — help
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. kid — to tease
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. rush — hurry

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