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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — in biology
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. content — happy
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. fall — the season
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cell — a phone
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bank — for money
  17. fall — to drop
  18. content — the amount
  19. game — a match
  20. bank — for money
  21. spell — letters
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bank — of a river

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