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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spring — the season
  3. craft — a skill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. pop — soda
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. craft — boats
  13. branch — a division
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spring — a coil
  16. scale — in music
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spring — of water
  20. pop — music
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cold — an illness
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. branch — of a tree

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