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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. content — happy
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rule — government
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. content — the amount
  14. mate — a friend
  15. kid — child
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rock — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rock — a stone

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