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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. hand — help
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. press — a publisher
  5. track — to keep track
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pop — soda
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cold — an illness
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pop — to visit
  14. press — to push
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bulb — for light
  20. track — a path
  21. press — newspapers
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. track — a song
  24. bulb — 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