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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. last — final
  3. lie — to recline
  4. last — finally
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. content — the amount
  7. rush — hurry
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. last — to go on
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. content — happy
  16. wind — moving air
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. pass — to spend time

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