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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. sharp — clever
  8. season — in sport
  9. lean — to bend
  10. file — a document
  11. branch — a division
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. season — of the year
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. tear — to rip
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. tear — from crying
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. ground — a position
  24. sharp — with an edge

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