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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — the season
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — letters
  7. deal — to handle
  8. spell — a short time
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spring — of water
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — the month
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spell — magic
  17. march — music
  18. cap — a lid
  19. snap — to click
  20. spring — a coil
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. cap — of ice
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — a hat

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