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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. track — a song
  5. spring — of water
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. spring — a coil
  12. season — in sport
  13. track — to keep track
  14. season — of the year
  15. cold — an illness
  16. drill — army training
  17. spring — the season
  18. wax — to grow
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. ground — a position
  23. track — a path
  24. drill — the tool

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