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: game · scale · dip · branch · hand · fork · tear · clip

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — for paper
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. scale — in music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fork — in a road
  9. clip — a video
  10. hand — help
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. game — a match
  14. tear — from crying
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. scale — size or range
  17. dip — to sink
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tear — to rip
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. game — wild animals
  23. hand — in cards
  24. scale — for weighing

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