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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. lean — thin
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — to bend
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cell — a phone
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cold — not warm
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — money
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. vault — a safe
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. capital — a city
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. present — the time now

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