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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pop — music
  5. band — a music group
  6. game — wild animals
  7. last — final
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — to go on
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. band — a ring
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pop — soda
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pop — to visit
  19. last — finally
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. firm — steady
  22. firm — a company
  23. pit — a hole
  24. band — a rubber band

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