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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spring — the season
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. rule — a law
  5. cue — a hint
  6. court — of law
  7. rest — a break
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mark — a grade
  11. court — for sport
  12. cue — for pool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — the season
  16. court — of a king
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cue — a signal
  19. mark — a trace
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spring — of water
  23. rule — government
  24. rest — what's left

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