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 · last · press · pass · mine · prune · fan · spring

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pass — a permit
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. press — a publisher
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. last — to go on
  12. spring — the season
  13. press — to push
  14. prune — to trim
  15. spring — a coil
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. last — finally
  23. press — newspapers
  24. spring — of water

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