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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tube — a container
  3. pit — in a race
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. pit — a hole
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. land — a country
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. stock — shares
  12. land — to come down
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tube — the underground
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. stock — goods
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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