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: hand · bulb · cold · rash · arm · ground · season · spring

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bulb — for light
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. ground — crushed
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ground — the earth
  9. season — of the year
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hand — in cards
  12. spring — of water
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. hand — help
  15. ground — a position
  16. rash — a series
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bulb — for light
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. rash — hasty
  23. season — in sport
  24. bulb — of a plant

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