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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. race — a contest
  3. stand — to bear
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wound — an injury
  6. toast — bread
  7. court — for sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. court — of law
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a match
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. race — humankind
  19. clip — for paper
  20. court — of a king
  21. race — the arms race
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wind — moving air

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