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: firm · clip · wound · cold · bound · track · prune · present

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. present — there
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bound — certain
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bound — obliged
  7. firm — decided
  8. present — a gift
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. present — the time now
  13. bound — tied together
  14. firm — steady
  15. cold — not warm
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wound — an injury
  18. track — a song
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — a video
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. track — a path
  23. track — to keep track
  24. cold — the Cold War

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