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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — a hole
  3. present — the time now
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pit — in a race
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — the season
  11. cap — a hat
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — a coil
  15. file — a document
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kick — in football
  19. present — a gift
  20. spring — of water
  21. cap — of ice
  22. file — a tool
  23. cap — a lid
  24. present — there

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