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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bound — obliged
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — a trail
  7. ball — a dance
  8. bound — certain
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. spell — letters
  12. lean — thin
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a great time
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chest — a box
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. fork — a garden tool

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