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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rock · cold · clip · content · bass · bat

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — the fish
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rock — a stone
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rock — music

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