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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cap — a hat
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cap — a lid
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bass — low music
  19. content — happy
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — a video
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cap — of ice
  24. calf — of the leg

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