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: pitch · clip · arm · pass · snap · wound · stem · cold

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pitch — completely
  5. snap — to click
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pass — a permit
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — not warm
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. stem — to come from
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — a stem cell

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