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 116 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. charge — electricity
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. charge — a price
  7. ground — crushed
  8. object — a thing
  9. cold — not warm
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. file — a document
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. charge — in control
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. file — a tool
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. ground — a position
  21. saw — the tool
  22. ground — the earth
  23. object — an aim
  24. file — a line of people

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