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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. branch — a division
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. rash — a series
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. cold — not warm
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to confront
  16. bulb — for light
  17. clip — a video
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bulb — for light
  20. clip — for paper
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. clip — to cut
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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