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: cold · clip · straw · content · club · saw · stem · ground

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — a video
  3. content — the amount
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — happy
  7. ground — the earth
  8. stem — to come from
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. saw — the tool
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. club — for golf
  14. clip — to cut
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cold — an illness
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ground — a position
  22. club — a group
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. club — for dancing

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