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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. spring — the season
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. file — a line of people
  6. press — to push
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. press — newspapers
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. file — a tool
  13. spring — of water
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bulb — for light
  20. face — part of the head
  21. file — a document
  22. bulb — for light
  23. press — a publisher
  24. bat — the animal

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