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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. sharp — exactly
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. kid — child
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — not warm
  8. field — a subject
  9. rash — hasty
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. field — farmland
  13. ball — a dance
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. sharp — clever
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. rash — a series
  22. kid — to tease
  23. spring — a coil
  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