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: wind · bat · snap · saw · row · current · bark · rule

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — a line
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bat — the animal
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rule — a law
  11. current — happening now
  12. row — to paddle
  13. current — electric
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. current — of water
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. snap — to click
  23. rule — government
  24. bark — of a tree

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