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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. march — the month
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — the fish
  6. ground — crushed
  7. court — of law
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. march — the month
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. court — for sport
  12. ground — a position
  13. court — of a king
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bass — low music
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. file — a line of people
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. march — music
  24. file — a tool

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