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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. season — in sport
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. shower — rain
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. clip — for paper
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. lean — thin
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — a video
  12. spell — magic
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. spell — letters
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. spell — a short time
  17. lean — to bend
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — not warm
  20. season — of the year
  21. date — the fruit
  22. shower — to wash
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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