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: cold · bound · race · mine · face · spell · press · calf

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cold — not warm
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cold — an illness
  5. face — to point toward
  6. press — a publisher
  7. face — to confront
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. bound — obliged
  11. race — humankind
  12. spell — letters
  13. bound — certain
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. race — a contest
  18. bound — tied together
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spell — magic
  21. press — to push
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. press — newspapers

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