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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a document
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — a series
  8. court — of law
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rock — music
  12. rash — hasty
  13. file — a line of people
  14. season — in sport
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rock — a stone
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wake — a trail
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. court — of a king
  23. file — a tool
  24. wake — before a funeral

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