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: mine · season · tear · present · fork · cold · press · vault

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. present — there
  3. press — a publisher
  4. season — in sport
  5. press — to push
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — a gift
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fork — in a road
  18. tear — to rip
  19. vault — a safe
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cold — not warm
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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