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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fall — to drop
  3. staff — employees
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. fall — to drop
  6. staff — a stick
  7. march — the month
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. last — to go on
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. scale — size or range
  15. march — the month
  16. staff — employees
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. last — final
  19. spell — magic
  20. last — finally
  21. march — music
  22. mine — for digging
  23. scale — in music
  24. fall — the season

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