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: face · press · branch · march · nail · sharp · field · clip

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. field — farmland
  4. clip — for paper
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. march — the month
  7. clip — a video
  8. face — to confront
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. press — to push
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — a division
  14. face — part of the head
  15. clip — to cut
  16. face — to point toward
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. press — newspapers
  20. march — music
  21. press — a publisher
  22. sharp — clever
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. field — a subject

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