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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. sharp — clever
  4. hand — in cards
  5. spring — the season
  6. pit — in a race
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — of water
  13. bear — the animal
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — a grade
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pit — a hole
  22. drill — army training
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. spring — a coil

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