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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — a city
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rock — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. rock — a stone
  10. swing — in golf
  11. capital — money
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. mine — for digging
  16. sharp — clever
  17. swing — music
  18. chest — a box
  19. clip — a video
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bulb — of a plant

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