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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. court — for sport
  3. race — the arms race
  4. root — of a word
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. court — of a king
  7. clip — a video
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. root — the cause
  10. race — a contest
  11. squash — the sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. root — of a plant
  16. spring — the season
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fork — in a road
  20. court — of law
  21. race — humankind
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — a coil
  24. squash — the vegetable

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