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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bank — for money
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. row — a line
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rash — a series
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pit — in a race
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bank — for money
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bank — of a river
  23. pit — a hole
  24. wind — moving air

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