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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of a king
  4. spell — magic
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. cold — not warm
  7. object — to protest
  8. net — in sport
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. spell — letters
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tear — to rip
  14. object — a thing
  15. object — an aim
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bark — to shout
  19. tear — from crying
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. court — of law
  23. court — for sport
  24. tear — from crying

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