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 quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bark — to shout
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tube — a container
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cell — in a prison

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