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: bowl · cold · present · bulb · pop · rest · land · spring

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. spring — of water
  4. bulb — for light
  5. land — a country
  6. pop — soda
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pop — music
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. spring — the season
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. present — the time now
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. land — to come down

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