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: drill · straw · cold · mate · cap · squash · perch · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. drill — army training
  4. mate — a friend
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. perch — the fish
  8. spell — magic
  9. squash — the sport
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mate — a partner
  12. drill — a practice
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — not warm
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mate — to breed
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cap — a hat
  24. straw — a straw man

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