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: rock · clip · root · last · chair · cold · staff · face

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. rock — a stone
  7. chair — a leader
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. root — the cause
  11. clip — to cut
  12. last — to go on
  13. face — to point toward
  14. root — of a word
  15. last — final
  16. root — of a plant
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. clip — a video
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — finally

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