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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. march — the month
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. hand — in cards
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — the tool
  12. march — music
  13. pound — a weight
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. file — a tool
  20. bark — to shout
  21. drill — army training
  22. spring — of water
  23. drill — a practice
  24. hand — part of the body

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