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: content · wind · mine · net · fall · stem · straw · spell

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. spell — letters
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spell — magic
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. content — happy
  10. fall — to drop
  11. net — for catching
  12. content — the amount
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fall — to drop
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — for digging
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fall — the season
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. spell — a short time

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