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 116 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: cell · vault · shower · cold · bat · leaves · press · spring

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — a coil
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. spring — of water
  9. vault — a safe
  10. shower — to wash
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. press — a publisher
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cell — a phone
  18. shower — rain
  19. spring — the season
  20. press — newspapers
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. press — to push
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — an illness

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