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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. last — finally
  3. sharp — clever
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bass — low music
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. last — to go on
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. race — the arms race
  10. march — the month
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. game — a match
  14. race — a contest
  15. march — the month
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. last — final
  19. spring — a coil
  20. race — humankind
  21. bass — the fish
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. march — music
  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