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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bass — the fish
  5. file — a line of people
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. file — a tool
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — low music
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. file — a document
  18. squash — the sport
  19. court — of law
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. kick — in football

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