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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — the month
  11. plane — a tool
  12. shower — to wash
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. shower — rain
  18. mark — a grade
  19. mark — a trace
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wind — moving air
  24. march — the month

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