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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — not warm
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. file — a document
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. dip — to sink
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. branch — a division
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. row — a line
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. row — to paddle

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