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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. face — to confront
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. face — part of the head
  5. mine — for digging
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. land — to come down
  9. club — for golf
  10. land — ground
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. land — a country
  18. face — to point toward
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. club — a group
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — an illness
  24. kick — with a leg

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