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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. shower — rain
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. net — after costs
  6. shower — to wash
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bank — of a river
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bank — for money
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bank — for money
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. branch — a division
  17. net — for catching
  18. wound — an injury
  19. net — in sport
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. row — a line

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