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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. bat — the animal
  3. saw — the tool
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. saw — the tool
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. cold — an illness
  12. foot — a measure
  13. clip — for paper
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — money
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pound — a weight
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. capital — a city
  24. bat — in an idiom

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