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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. band — a music group
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. band — a ring
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. patient — a sick person

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