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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. march — music
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. fall — the season
  9. stock — goods
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. row — a line
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wind — moving air
  16. root — of a word
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to click
  19. stock — shares
  20. cell — in biology
  21. root — the cause
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — to drop
  24. wind — moving air

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