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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. march — music
  3. row — a line
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mine — for digging
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — in sport
  12. tube — the underground
  13. season — of the year
  14. tear — from crying
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. march — the month
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — electricity
  19. cold — an illness
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. march — the month
  23. charge — in control
  24. tear — from crying

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