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 124 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — music
  7. spell — a short time
  8. squash — to crush
  9. content — the amount
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stand — to bear
  12. spell — letters
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. stock — shares
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. spell — magic
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rock — a stone
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stand — for spectators

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