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 · drill · bass · toast · hand · pit · bark · cold

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. pit — in a race
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — low music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hand — help
  19. drill — a practice
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pit — a hole
  22. toast — bread
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — in cards

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