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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. staff — a stick
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. staff — employees
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rash — a series
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. march — music
  24. staff — employees

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