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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stock — shares
  3. rest — a break
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bound — certain
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. bound — obliged
  19. scale — size or range
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. clip — a video
  22. scale — in music
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bound — tied together

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