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

Word bank: clip · tear · safe · march · bass · cell

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — a video
  3. bass — the fish
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. march — music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. tear — to rip
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cell — a phone
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bass — low music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. tear — from crying
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. safe — a strongbox

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