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 124 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 keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. stem — to come from
  5. track — a song
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. stock — goods
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. capital — a city
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. band — a music group
  18. track — a path
  19. band — a ring
  20. stock — shares
  21. bore — to tire
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. bore — to drill

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