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: net · craft · shower · roll · cold · charge · wake · chest

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. craft — a skill
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cold — an illness
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. charge — a price
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. roll — a cake
  10. cold — not warm
  11. roll — a list
  12. shower — to wash
  13. net — for catching
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. craft — boats
  16. net — after costs
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. net — in sport
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. wake — a trail
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. charge — in control

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