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: clip · leaves · drill · pitcher · kick · ball · date · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. ball — a dance
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. clip — a video
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. drill — a practice
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. drill — army training
  19. date — the fruit
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. drill — the tool

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