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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cold — an illness
  4. sharp — clever
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. ground — a position
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bass — low music
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spring — of water
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bass — the fish
  19. lie — to recline
  20. ground — the earth
  21. spring — the season
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spring — a coil
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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