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: squash · branch · cell · pop · spring · cold · file · chip

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. spring — the season
  5. chip — for betting
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pop — to visit
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. squash — to crush
  11. file — a tool
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. file — a document
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. branch — a division
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pop — soda
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. spring — of water
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. chip — to eat

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