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: cold · saw · pound · clip · wound · straw · lean · stock

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. lean — thin
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pound — a weight
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. stock — shares
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — goods
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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