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: cold · cap · race · spring · pitcher · prune · patient · fan

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. prune — to trim
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cap — of ice
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. race — a contest
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cap — a hat
  10. race — humankind
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spring — a coil
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spring — the season
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cap — a lid

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