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: shower · rock · game · march · rest · tear · ground · patient

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. march — the month
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — crushed
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rest — what's left
  9. march — music
  10. ground — a position
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. rock — a stone
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — the earth
  16. tear — to rip
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. rest — a break
  19. game — a match
  20. shower — rain
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. march — the month
  24. game — wild animals

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