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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. ball — a great time
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bulb — for light
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. clip — a video
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ball — a dance
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a leader
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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