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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a friend
  3. rock — a stone
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. current — electric
  7. land — a country
  8. file — a tool
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. cold — not warm
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. current — of water
  15. mate — a partner
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a document
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. file — a line of people
  20. rock — music
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. ground — the earth
  23. current — happening now
  24. land — to come down

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