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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. stand — to bear
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. spell — letters
  9. mate — a partner
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pit — a hole
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wake — a trail
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kick — in football
  24. mate — to breed

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