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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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. stock — goods
  2. roll — a list
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — shares
  7. face — part of the head
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. roll — a cake
  10. cold — an illness
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. drill — army training
  13. face — to confront
  14. band — a music group
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. band — a ring
  21. face — to point toward
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rush — a thrill
  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