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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. branch — a division
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. sharp — clever
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. club — a group
  9. land — a country
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — an illness
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. scale — size or range
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — not warm
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. march — music
  19. club — for golf
  20. cell — in biology
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. club — for dancing

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