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. The water is too ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. swing — to play on
  3. mate — a friend
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. content — happy
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. content — the amount
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. season — in sport
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. spell — letters
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mate — to breed
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — in golf
  19. season — of the year
  20. swing — music
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spell — magic
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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