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: present · date · clip · jam · swing · bass · stem · cold

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. swing — music
  3. bass — low music
  4. present — the time now
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. clip — to cut
  7. swing — to play on
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bass — the fish
  10. clip — for paper
  11. present — there
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — an illness
  18. clip — a video
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. swing — in golf
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. cold — not warm

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