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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · cold · cue · press · bark · march

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. march — music
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — a hint
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bark — to shout
  8. cue — for pool
  9. march — the month
  10. press — to push
  11. press — newspapers
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bark — of a tree

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