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

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fall — the season
  9. row — a line
  10. row — to paddle
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — of a tree

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