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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. 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. cold — not warm
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. drill — army training
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pop — to visit
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. pop — music
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. game — a match
  11. pop — soda
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. game — wild animals
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. 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