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: bark · spring · clip · capital · roll · march · present · calf

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. roll — a cake
  3. clip — a video
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. bark — to shout
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. spring — of water
  10. capital — money
  11. spring — the season
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. clip — to cut
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. clip — for paper
  18. roll — a list
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — a city
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spring — a coil

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