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: hand · chest · field · saw · clip · craft · pop · spring

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. chest — a box
  3. saw — the tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. pop — soda
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pop — music
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. chest — of your body
  13. craft — boats
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. spring — a coil
  16. clip — for paper
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — help
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — in cards
  21. craft — a skill
  22. field — for sport
  23. pop — to visit
  24. field — a subject

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