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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spell — magic
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fall — the season
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. drill — a practice
  10. march — music
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. content — the amount
  13. march — the month
  14. spring — the season
  15. drill — the tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. spring — of water
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wind — to turn a key

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