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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pound — a weight
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mate — a friend
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. mate — a partner
  8. drill — army training
  9. cold — not warm
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. plane — a tool
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cold — an illness
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. drill — a practice
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. drill — the tool
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — the Cold War

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