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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — the fish
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pit — a hole
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mate — a partner
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. swing — to play on
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. fall — the season
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pit — in a race
  22. bass — low music
  23. swing — music
  24. cold — an illness

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