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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — of your body
  3. shower — rain
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. race — the arms race
  7. land — to come down
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — of water
  10. vault — a safe
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. land — a country
  13. race — a contest
  14. cell — a phone
  15. spring — a coil
  16. race — humankind
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. chest — a box
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. spring — the season
  21. land — ground
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — boats
  24. cell — in biology

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