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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cap — a hat
  4. spring — of water
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — ground
  8. cap — of ice
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. lean — thin
  11. spring — a coil
  12. clip — for paper
  13. file — a line of people
  14. lean — to bend
  15. clip — a video
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cap — a lid
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. land — to come down
  21. spring — the season
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. land — a country

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