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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. land — ground
  3. tube — a container
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wound — an injury
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. race — a contest
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. prune — to trim
  20. tube — the underground
  21. wound — an injury
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. cold — an illness

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