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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. race — a contest
  3. mine — for digging
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — rain
  7. race — the arms race
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. chest — a box
  11. spell — a short time
  12. race — humankind
  13. drill — the tool
  14. spell — letters
  15. drill — army training
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. drill — a practice
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — magic
  21. plane — a tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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