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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. fine — high quality
  3. cold — not warm
  4. squash — the sport
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. fine — all right
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. squash — to crush
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — of water

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