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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. row — to paddle
  3. chip — for betting
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. file — a tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chip — to eat
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. present — a gift
  12. chest — a box
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. file — a line of people
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. present — there
  20. file — a document
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — the time now
  24. chip — in a computer

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