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: stand · cold · straw · pass · rush · cell · shower · roll

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. rush — hurry
  3. roll — a list
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. stand — to bear
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. shower — rain
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. roll — a cake
  16. pass — a permit
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. cell — in biology

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