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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spring — of water
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. last — finally
  6. last — to go on
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lie — to recline
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — the season
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. last — final
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. nail — on a finger

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