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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. march — music
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. roll — a cake
  7. march — the month
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tear — from crying
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rush — hurry
  20. march — the month
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tear — from crying

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