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: spring · wound · patient · row · chair · kick · shower · clip

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — to cut
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chair — a leader
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. clip — for paper
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — to wash
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wound — an injury
  18. clip — a video
  19. row — to paddle
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. kick — in football
  23. shower — rain
  24. row — a line

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