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: land · fan · lean · shower · row · current · cold · sharp

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. lean — thin
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. row — a line
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. current — happening now
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — an illness
  16. current — of water
  17. row — to paddle
  18. current — electric
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. land — a country
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. shower — rain
  23. lean — to bend
  24. cold — not warm

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