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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. spring — of water
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. spring — a coil
  8. board — a committee
  9. cell — in biology
  10. net — in sport
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a path
  14. stem — to come from
  15. net — for catching
  16. spring — the season
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. track — to keep track
  19. net — after costs
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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