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 taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. squash — the sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — not warm
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. net — after costs
  11. squash — to crush
  12. net — in sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. prune — to trim
  16. march — music
  17. shower — rain
  18. net — for catching
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. calf — a young animal

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