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: spring · coach · tear · cold · bark · ground · spell · kick

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spring — of water
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. kick — in football
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spell — magic
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bark — to shout
  18. spring — the season
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spring — a coil

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