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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. rash — hasty
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — music
  11. clip — a video
  12. kid — to tease
  13. rest — what's left
  14. field — for sport
  15. rest — a break
  16. prune — to trim
  17. vault — a safe
  18. rash — a series
  19. field — a subject
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. rest — what's left
  22. field — farmland
  23. prune — to trim
  24. march — the month

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