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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — a coil
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. hand — help
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. lean — to bend
  9. race — humankind
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — farmland
  14. spring — of water
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spring — the season
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. lean — thin
  20. ball — a great time
  21. hand — in cards
  22. ball — a dance
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. field — a subject

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