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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — to go on
  5. face — to confront
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — in a race
  8. last — final
  9. face — part of the head
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — an illness
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. spring — the season
  17. band — a music group
  18. content — happy
  19. rest — a break
  20. spring — of water
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rest — what's left
  23. face — to point toward
  24. last — finally

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