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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. last — finally
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. can — to be able to
  6. prune — to trim
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. prune — to trim
  9. can — a tin
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. can — a tin
  14. band — a music group
  15. last — to go on
  16. present — a gift
  17. cold — an illness
  18. present — the time now
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cold — not warm
  21. hand — in cards
  22. last — final
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. present — there

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