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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. march — the month
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cue — for pool
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — the month
  7. cue — a hint
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cue — a signal
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wake — a trail
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rest — a break
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rest — what's left
  18. march — music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — to cut
  21. degree — from a university
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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