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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stem — to come from
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stock — shares
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. clip — a video

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