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: spring · bat · straw · jam · pop · hand · club · fall

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. hand — help
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. club — for golf
  5. fall — the season
  6. pop — soda
  7. club — a group
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pop — music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — a coil
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fall — to drop
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spring — of water
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. club — for dancing

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