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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. march — the month
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — the arms race
  13. lean — thin
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. ball — a great time
  19. mate — a friend
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. mate — a partner
  22. mate — to breed
  23. ball — a dance
  24. cold — not warm

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