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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. ball — a dance
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. net — after costs
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. net — in sport
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. charge — a price
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. charge — electricity
  19. ball — a great time
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. charge — in control
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fall — the season
  24. net — for catching

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