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 120 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: stock · temple · shower · rash · content · lash · wind · spring

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. spring — a coil
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stock — shares
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spring — of water
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. shower — rain
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. shower — to wash
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. stock — goods
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spring — the season
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. rash — a series

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