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: cabinet · spring · wound · march · tear · rule · bat · season

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — the season
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. bat — the animal
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — in sport
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rule — government
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. spring — a coil
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. march — music

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