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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. press — to push
  5. stand — to bear
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of law
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — of a king
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. court — for sport
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. press — newspapers
  24. fan — to cool the air

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