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. The water is too ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — a container
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lean — thin
  6. march — music
  7. craft — boats
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. craft — a skill
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. march — the month
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tube — the underground
  18. clip — a video
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pound — for dogs

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