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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. toast — bread
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ball — a great time
  7. court — of law
  8. ball — a dance
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. court — of a king
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rush — hurry
  21. hand — help
  22. court — for sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. fork — in a road

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