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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cold — an illness
  3. march — the month
  4. last — to go on
  5. spell — letters
  6. last — finally
  7. bear — the animal
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — not warm
  14. march — the month
  15. spell — a short time
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. chair — a leader
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bear — the animal
  20. march — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. spell — magic
  24. degree — from a university

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