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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. chair — a leader
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a friend
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — the season
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. clip — to cut
  11. court — of a king
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of law
  15. march — the month
  16. spring — a coil
  17. march — music
  18. clip — a video
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. court — for sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — a division

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