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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. charge — in control
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. charge — electricity
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — of water
  13. net — after costs
  14. row — to paddle
  15. spring — a coil
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spring — the season
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. land — ground
  24. hand — part of the body

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