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 116 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. face — to confront
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bark — to shout
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cell — in biology
  10. present — a gift
  11. track — a path
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. track — a song
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mine — for digging
  20. present — there
  21. face — to point toward
  22. track — to keep track
  23. present — the time now
  24. shower — rain

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