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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. cell — in biology
  9. net — for catching
  10. pop — soda
  11. net — in sport
  12. pop — music
  13. net — after costs
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. ball — a dance
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. shower — rain
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. shower — to wash
  20. stand — to bear
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. pop — to visit
  24. ball — a round shape

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