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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. cell — a phone
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. content — happy
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. fall — the season
  18. content — the amount
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rash — a series
  24. spell — letters

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