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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a list
  9. court — for sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. court — of law
  14. roll — a cake
  15. court — of a king
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. stock — shares
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pass — a permit
  23. file — a document
  24. stock — goods

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