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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. saw — the tool
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cell — a phone
  5. snap — to click
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. rush — hurry
  8. ground — crushed
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tube — the underground
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cold — not warm
  17. saw — the tool
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tube — a container
  24. cold — an illness

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