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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. press — a publisher
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — to tease
  10. net — in sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — to push
  13. net — for catching
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — an illness
  17. squash — the sport
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. net — after costs
  21. lean — to bend
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. lean — thin
  24. mine — belonging to me

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