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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — to cut
  8. charge — electricity
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stock — shares
  14. saw — the tool
  15. charge — in control
  16. cell — a phone
  17. charge — a price
  18. clip — a video
  19. cell — in biology
  20. track — a song
  21. tear — from crying
  22. game — a match
  23. saw — the tool
  24. track — a path

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