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: bat · bore · hand · capital · pound · clip · bass · spell

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pound — a weight
  3. spell — a short time
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bass — the fish
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — to drill
  10. clip — a video
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. capital — money
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. hand — in cards
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — letters
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bass — low music

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