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: row · clip · capital · hand · wind · saw · bear · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. row — to paddle
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. row — a line
  9. saw — the tool
  10. capital — a city
  11. bear — the animal
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — the tool
  17. clip — for paper
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. hand — help
  21. clip — a video
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. jam — a tight spot

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