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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. squash — to crush
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. hand — help
  6. spring — of water
  7. pound — a weight
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cold — not warm
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — the sport
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. spring — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — to push

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