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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. charge — a price
  3. last — to go on
  4. net — in sport
  5. pop — to visit
  6. net — after costs
  7. charge — electricity
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — final
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. net — for catching
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pop — soda
  18. clip — a video
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. charge — in control
  24. kid — child

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