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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. land — a country
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. land — ground
  6. net — for catching
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. land — to come down
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cold — an illness
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bass — the fish
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — a safe
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cold — not warm
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. sharp — clever
  24. bat — in an idiom

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