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 120 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: pound · hide · pitcher · clip · chest · wind · fan · kid

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chest — a box
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — a video
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. kid — to tease
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. hide — animal skin

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