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: clip · land · object · saw · bat · face · net · lean

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. lean — thin
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. net — after costs
  9. clip — a video
  10. face — to confront
  11. land — to come down
  12. lean — to bend
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — for paper
  16. net — for catching
  17. face — to point toward
  18. object — to protest
  19. bat — the animal
  20. object — an aim
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — in sport
  24. object — a thing

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