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 water is too ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. present — there
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. band — a music group
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — of water
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spring — the season
  18. bark — to shout
  19. present — a gift
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. present — the time now
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — to cool the 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