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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. current — of water
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. march — the month
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rule — a law
  7. spring — the season
  8. scale — size or range
  9. spring — a coil
  10. row — a line
  11. content — happy
  12. shower — rain
  13. row — to paddle
  14. scale — in music
  15. march — the month
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. current — happening now
  18. rule — government
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. spring — of water
  21. shower — to wash
  22. current — electric
  23. march — music
  24. content — the amount

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