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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. season — in sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. season — of the year
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. lie — to recline
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stock — goods
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — to crush
  17. stock — shares
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. squash — the sport

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