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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. current — happening now
  10. band — a music group
  11. spring — a coil
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. band — a ring
  15. game — a match
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — the season
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spring — of water
  22. current — electric
  23. current — of water
  24. game — a kind of play

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