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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stem — to come from
  5. swing — music
  6. rule — a law
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. season — of the year
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cold — not warm
  20. swing — in golf
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. season — in sport
  24. rule — government

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