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 116 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: hand · bore · present · clip · capital · bark · ball · drill

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. present — a gift
  3. hand — help
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. drill — a practice
  6. capital — money
  7. drill — the tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ball — a dance
  13. present — there
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — a city
  16. hand — in cards
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. present — the time now
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. drill — army training
  24. bore — to drill

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