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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. wound — an injury
  8. sharp — clever
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fork — in a road
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — for paper
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. clip — a video
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — not warm
  24. clip — to cut

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