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 116 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. root — of a word
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. game — a match
  6. cold — an illness
  7. swing — to play on
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. root — the cause
  12. wind — moving air
  13. swing — in golf
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — music
  17. game — wild animals
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — the animal
  22. root — of a plant
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. game — a kind of play

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