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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. perch — the fish
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cold — not warm
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bass — low music
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. shower — to wash
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. spell — magic
  24. perch — for a bird

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