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: bowl · hand · can · land · spring · clip · saw · snap

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. hand — in cards
  6. clip — for paper
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. hand — help
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. land — to come down
  17. can — a tin
  18. land — ground
  19. saw — the tool
  20. land — a country
  21. can — a tin
  22. spring — of water
  23. snap — to click
  24. clip — a video

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