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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. march — music
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wind — moving air
  9. content — happy
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. ball — a great time
  18. shower — rain
  19. dip — to sink
  20. wind — moving air
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. content — the amount

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