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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bank — for money
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bank — of a river
  13. file — a document
  14. hand — in cards
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. hand — help
  17. bank — for money
  18. deal — to handle
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. file — a tool

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