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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. lean — thin
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. key — the most important part
  7. stock — goods
  8. squash — to crush
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. drill — the tool
  12. spring — of water
  13. key — in music
  14. key — for a lock
  15. pitch — completely
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — an illness
  19. drill — a practice
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stock — shares
  22. lean — to bend
  23. drill — army training
  24. lean — to rest against

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