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 · stick · spell · clip · pop · fall · bat · cold

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fall — the season
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — the animal
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bark — to shout
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — to visit

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