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: drill · bore · roll · cold · wave · land · spring · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. land — to come down
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. roll — a list
  6. spring — a coil
  7. can — a tin
  8. spring — of water
  9. can — a tin
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. drill — army training
  12. bore — to tire
  13. drill — the tool
  14. land — a country
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. land — ground
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bore — to drill
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — the season
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. drill — a practice

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