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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. drill — the tool
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mate — a partner
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. ground — the earth
  9. squash — the sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. drill — army training
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. field — farmland
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — the season
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. kid — child
  23. field — for sport
  24. wake — a trail

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