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: pitcher · tear · fall · snap · cold · wake · face · content

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fall — to drop
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fall — the season
  15. face — part of the head
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. content — happy
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. snap — to click
  23. face — to confront
  24. content — the amount

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