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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. last — final
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fall — the season
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wake — a trail
  11. march — the month
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — letters
  15. last — finally
  16. march — music
  17. court — of a king
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. march — the month
  20. last — to go on
  21. swing — music
  22. court — of law
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. swing — in golf

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