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: club · march · chest · file · clip · nail · sharp · trunk

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. chest — of your body
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. march — the month
  10. file — a document
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. club — for golf
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. clip — a video
  19. club — a group
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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