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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. clip — to cut
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cold — not warm
  11. squash — to crush
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bark — to shout
  15. clip — a video
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. deal — to handle
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. pound — a weight

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