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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — to bend
  5. cell — a phone
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. drill — army training
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — rain
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. drill — a practice
  13. cold — an illness
  14. season — of the year
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. lean — thin
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cell — in biology
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hand — help
  24. drill — the tool

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