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: staff · board · spring · bowl · date · march · cell · cold

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spring — the season
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. board — a committee
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. staff — employees
  11. march — the month
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — an illness
  14. march — music
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. cold — not warm
  19. march — the month
  20. staff — a stick
  21. board — to get on
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cell — in biology

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