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: tube · fan · mug · bear · pitcher · cold · spring · bark

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — of water
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. tube — a container
  8. mug — a cup
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. mug — a face
  15. mug — to rob
  16. tube — the underground
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spring — the season
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bear — the animal

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