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: race · tube · fan · bat · cold · roll · prune · face

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — to point toward
  6. race — humankind
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. roll — a cake
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. tube — a container
  21. roll — a list
  22. bat — the animal
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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