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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. can — to be able to
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. sharp — clever
  11. can — a tin
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bark — to shout
  14. drill — the tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. drill — a practice
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — army training

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