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: kid · stock · clip · trunk · fine · squash · root · bat

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. squash — the sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stock — shares
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. root — of a plant
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stock — goods
  17. root — of a word
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. clip — for paper
  20. squash — to crush
  21. root — the cause
  22. fine — all right
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. kid — child

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