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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — an illness
  3. shower — rain
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ground — the earth
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. ground — crushed
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — a video
  21. ground — a position
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — to come from
  24. fan — a supporter

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