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: ruler · chest · game · land · rock · tube · ground · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. land — ground
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rock — music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. game — a match
  15. ground — crushed
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — wild animals
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. tube — a container
  20. rock — a stone
  21. ground — a position
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. ground — the earth

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