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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chip — for betting
  4. stem — to come from
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. swing — in golf
  13. land — ground
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bat — the animal
  16. land — a country
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — to cut
  20. spring — of water
  21. swing — music
  22. game — a match
  23. land — to come down
  24. swing — to play on

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