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 116 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fine — all right
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. lean — to bend
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. shower — rain
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bass — the fish

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