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: lash · board · squash · shower · cold · track · chest · lean

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. squash — the sport
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. squash — to crush
  9. chest — of your body
  10. board — a committee
  11. track — to keep track
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. shower — to wash
  15. board — to get on
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. chest — a box
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. track — a path
  20. track — a song
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. shower — rain
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. cold — not warm

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