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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. race — a contest
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cold — an illness
  7. season — in sport
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. rule — government
  11. rule — a law
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spell — a short time
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. season — of the year
  18. race — humankind
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spell — letters
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. spell — magic
  24. race — the arms race

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