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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. stem — to come from
  3. race — a contest
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — an illness
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. perch — the fish

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