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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cold — an illness
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. capital — money
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — of water
  17. fall — the season
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. capital — a city
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — a big letter

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