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 · bark · stock · wind · chest · tube · lie · bowl

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. clip — for paper
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. tube — the underground
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stock — shares
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stock — goods
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. clip — a video
  21. chest — of your body
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — to recline
  24. bark — to shout

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