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: patient · ground · cold · staff · bay · shower · trunk · mate

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mate — a friend
  4. staff — employees
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. staff — employees
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cold — an illness
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — a position
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mate — to breed
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. staff — a stick

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