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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pop — to visit
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — a path
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. lean — thin
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pop — music
  13. mine — for digging
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. lean — to bend
  16. track — a song
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pop — soda
  20. last — to go on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. last — final
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. lean — to rest against

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