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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. rock — music
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. file — a tool
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. file — a document
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. object — a thing
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. object — an aim
  15. bark — to shout
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stock — shares
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stock — goods

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