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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. rush — hurry
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. scale — size or range
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. fall — the season
  20. scale — in music
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. branch — a division
  24. tear — to rip

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