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: game · content · press · stock · season · cell · spring · drill

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. press — a publisher
  3. spring — the season
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. drill — army training
  6. season — of the year
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — the amount
  9. stock — shares
  10. cell — in biology
  11. drill — the tool
  12. press — to push
  13. content — happy
  14. spring — a coil
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. spring — of water
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. season — in sport
  19. cell — a phone
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. drill — a practice

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