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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. season — in sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. present — a gift
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. present — the time now
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. present — there
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. season — of the year
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the vegetable

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