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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. rash — hasty
  4. row — to paddle
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. rash — a series
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitch — completely
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wake — a trail
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chip — to eat
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. row — a line
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. chip — for betting

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