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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. present — a gift
  3. sharp — clever
  4. present — the time now
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. ground — a position
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. shower — rain
  10. stem — to come from
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. mine — for digging
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. band — a ring
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. present — there
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wake — a trail
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ground — crushed
  24. band — a music group

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