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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. field — for sport
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spring — the season
  13. cold — an illness
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. field — a subject
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. field — farmland
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. spring — of water

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