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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. content — the amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pass — a permit
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. swing — music
  10. spring — the season
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — in sport
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. content — happy
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. swing — to play on
  21. net — for catching
  22. cold — an illness
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. net — after costs

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