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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — crushed
  5. rush — hurry
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. file — a document
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. file — a tool
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. march — music
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. cold — an illness
  15. march — the month
  16. game — a match
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. march — the month
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. game — wild animals
  22. file — a line of people
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. ground — the earth

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