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 124 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rest — a break
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. shower — rain
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rest — what's left
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. stem — of a plant

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