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: tube · straw · fork · perch · clip · cold · stick · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cold — not warm
  12. perch — the fish
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. tube — the underground
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. tube — a container
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cold — an illness
  24. clip — a video

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