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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fine — all right
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. can — to be able to
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. fine — high quality
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pit — a hole
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. sharp — clever
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cell — in biology

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