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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — finally
  8. face — part of the head
  9. net — in sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. game — wild animals
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. last — to go on
  16. face — to confront
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. last — final
  20. wound — an injury
  21. net — for catching
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. game — a match

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