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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bear — the animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. drill — army training
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. last — to go on
  10. track — a song
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. last — final
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. last — finally
  17. drill — the tool
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. track — a path
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. drill — a practice
  22. track — to keep track
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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