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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. game — a match
  5. swing — to play on
  6. tear — from crying
  7. sharp — clever
  8. last — finally
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. prune — to trim
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. prune — to trim
  16. game — wild animals
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. swing — music
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wake — a trail

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