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: tube · clip · present · game · cold · mine · bore · mark

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cold — an illness
  4. game — wild animals
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. tube — the underground
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. mark — a trace
  12. bore — to tire
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cold — not warm
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bore — to drill
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. present — a gift
  23. tube — a container
  24. clip — to cut

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