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: shower · fine · spring · file · wake · hide · roll · bat

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. fine — all right
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a list
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wake — a trail
  15. spring — a coil
  16. file — a document
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. spring — the season
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. spring — of water
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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