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: scale · row · fork · last · shower · bark · drill · spring

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. drill — a practice
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. last — finally
  5. drill — the tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. drill — army training
  9. row — a line
  10. scale — in music
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. row — to paddle
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — in a road
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. shower — rain
  21. last — to go on
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. last — final
  24. scale — for weighing

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