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 120 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: wake · spring · cold · rest · content · fan · season · net

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. net — for catching
  4. season — in sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. spring — of water
  10. rest — what's left
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. content — happy
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rest — a break
  18. content — the amount
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wake — a trail
  24. spring — a coil

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