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: last · chip · land · cold · calf · wind · patient · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. land — ground
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. last — finally
  13. clip — a video
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. last — to go on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chip — to eat
  18. last — final
  19. chip — for betting
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wind — moving air

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