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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. net — after costs
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. cap — a lid
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spring — the season
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. net — in sport
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. net — for catching
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cap — of ice
  24. fan — a supporter

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