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: bore · cold · content · march · ground · lean · patient · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. march — the month
  5. content — happy
  6. bore — to drill
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bore — to tire
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spell — a short time
  18. ground — a position
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spell — magic
  24. patient — a sick person

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