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 124 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. squash — the sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. hand — help
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. plane — a tool
  10. squash — to crush
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. cold — not warm
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bore — to tire
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to click
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. hand — part of the body

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