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: wake · lie · cold · ruler · chest · kid · key · spring

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spring — a coil
  3. key — the most important part
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. spring — the season
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. kid — to tease
  11. spring — of water
  12. key — for a lock
  13. chest — a box
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. lie — to recline
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chest — of your body
  18. key — in music
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — child
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ruler — for measuring

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