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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. stem — to come from
  11. tube — the underground
  12. cold — an illness
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. tube — a container
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spring — of water
  24. stem — a stem cell

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