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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. hand — help
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. firm — steady
  9. fine — high quality
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hand — in cards
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. march — music
  14. firm — decided
  15. rock — a stone
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — the month
  19. firm — a company
  20. rock — music
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. march — the month

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