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: capital · clip · bat · perch · patient · lash · fork · staff

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. capital — money
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. bat — the animal
  7. staff — employees
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. perch — the fish
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. staff — a stick
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — in a road
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a city

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