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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cell — a phone
  4. charge — a price
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. charge — electricity
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cell — in biology
  20. shower — rain
  21. charge — in control
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. sharp — exactly
  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