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: file · present · hand · clip · wound · bat · stand · mine

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. file — a line of people
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. hand — help
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. clip — a video
  15. present — the time now
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. bat — the animal
  19. present — a gift
  20. hand — in cards
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. present — there

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