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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. ground — a position
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. march — music
  6. pitch — completely
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. stem — to come from
  9. ground — crushed
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. march — the month
  18. dip — to sink
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bass — the fish
  24. pitch — a sports field

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