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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. stock — goods
  3. tear — to rip
  4. stock — shares
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. drill — a practice
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — army training
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tube — a container
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bat — the animal
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. nail — on a finger

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