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

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. hand — help
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pop — music
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — a box
  18. wake — a trail

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