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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. mine — for digging
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lean — thin
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. spring — the season
  21. lean — to bend
  22. spring — of water
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. spring — a coil

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