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 116 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. squash — the sport
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tear — to rip
  12. squash — to crush
  13. spring — of water
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. net — in sport
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chair — a leader
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cold — an illness
  24. shower — rain

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