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: cold · race · shower · charge · march · mine · lash · saw

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. charge — in control
  3. race — the arms race
  4. mine — for digging
  5. shower — to wash
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. race — a contest
  8. charge — electricity
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. saw — the tool
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. march — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. march — the month
  16. race — humankind
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — not warm
  19. saw — the tool
  20. shower — rain
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cold — an illness
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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