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 112 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 blown up by a land ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. swing — to play on
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fall — to drop
  11. swing — in golf
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. bark — to shout
  21. fall — the season
  22. swing — music
  23. bear — the animal
  24. drill — army training

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