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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. vault — a safe
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. chest — a box
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. clip — to cut
  8. net — after costs
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — for paper
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. clip — a video
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. net — in sport
  20. content — the amount
  21. cold — not warm
  22. content — happy
  23. net — for catching
  24. calf — a young 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