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: race · club · capital · kick · bound · clip · prune · bass

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bound — tied together
  5. clip — to cut
  6. club — for golf
  7. capital — a city
  8. bound — certain
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. race — a contest
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. clip — a video
  17. bass — low music
  18. kick — in football
  19. bound — obliged
  20. club — a group
  21. race — the arms race
  22. club — for dancing
  23. capital — money
  24. race — humankind

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