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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hand — help
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bear — the animal

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