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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. present — there
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bark — to shout
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — a video
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — a gift
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. present — the time now

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