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 · land · pitcher · kid · rule · net · chip · root

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chip — for betting
  3. kid — child
  4. land — a country
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rule — a law
  7. land — to come down
  8. root — the cause
  9. rule — government
  10. clip — for paper
  11. root — of a plant
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. land — ground
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. kid — to tease
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. root — of a word
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. net — after costs
  23. chip — to eat
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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