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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. snap — to click
  6. spring — the season
  7. hand — in cards
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. key — for a lock
  13. tube — a container
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stem — to come from
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. key — in music
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. key — the most important part
  22. tube — the underground
  23. spring — of water
  24. tube — in a tire

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