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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. ground — a position
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. race — humankind
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — crushed
  13. content — happy
  14. clip — a video
  15. snap — to click
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. race — a contest
  19. band — a music group
  20. content — the amount
  21. ground — the earth
  22. clip — to cut
  23. band — a ring
  24. bowl — a football final

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