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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. shower — to wash
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — to cut
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rock — a stone
  7. fall — to drop
  8. perch — the fish
  9. rock — music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. clip — a video
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. mine — for digging
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — rain
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rock — to move gently

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