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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. game — wild animals
  3. season — in sport
  4. last — to go on
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — to come down
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. last — finally
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. game — a match
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. march — music
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. march — the month
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. last — final

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