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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — a phone
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. race — a contest
  9. net — for catching
  10. pound — a weight
  11. stock — goods
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. spring — the season
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. snap — to click
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. race — humankind
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. spring — of water
  23. race — the arms race
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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