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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spell — letters
  5. bulb — for light
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. swing — to play on
  9. capital — a city
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bulb — for light
  15. capital — money
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — not warm
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. scale — in music
  23. swing — music
  24. snap — to click

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