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: cue · field · clip · file · key · pitcher · row · last

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — to cut
  4. last — finally
  5. cue — a hint
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — for a lock
  9. field — farmland
  10. last — to go on
  11. row — a line
  12. cue — for pool
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. file — a tool
  16. last — final
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. key — the most important part
  19. field — a subject
  20. file — a line of people
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — to paddle

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