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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — for digging
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. bore — to drill
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. land — ground
  23. bore — to tire
  24. land — a country

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