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: shower · hand · face · club · craft · clip · content · sharp

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. shower — rain
  5. content — happy
  6. hand — help
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — boats
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. face — to point toward
  12. craft — a skill
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. club — a group
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. content — the amount
  20. hand — in cards
  21. sharp — clever
  22. face — part of the head
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. face — to confront

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