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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. row — to paddle
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. file — a tool
  13. hand — help
  14. file — a document
  15. row — a line
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. hand — in cards
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. roll — a cake
  20. file — a line of people
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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