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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. present — the time now
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chip — for betting
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. shower — rain
  10. chip — to eat
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. present — there
  14. cold — not warm
  15. shower — to wash
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. present — a gift

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