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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. race — a contest
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bulb — for light
  5. cold — not warm
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — a sauce

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