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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. present — the time now
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. present — a gift
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. spring — the season
  9. roll — a cake
  10. ground — the earth
  11. present — there
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. roll — a list
  14. spring — of water
  15. cold — not warm
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. prune — to trim
  21. ground — a position
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. leaves — of a tree

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