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 120 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: club · shower · wind · clip · pound · bank · ball · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. club — for dancing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bank — for money
  5. ball — a dance
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — rain
  12. bank — of a river
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. chip — for betting
  16. club — for golf
  17. clip — a video
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pound — a weight
  20. club — a group
  21. bank — for money
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. ball — a great time

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