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: wake · last · clip · wound · rule · land · foot · tear

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tear — to rip
  3. clip — for paper
  4. last — final
  5. rule — government
  6. last — to go on
  7. foot — a measure
  8. last — finally
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. rule — a law
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. tear — from crying
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. wound — an injury
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — ground
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wake — a trail
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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