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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fine — all right
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. scale — size or range
  9. rash — hasty
  10. scale — in music
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rash — a series
  14. season — in sport
  15. fine — high quality
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. clip — to cut
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wind — moving air
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. clip — a video
  22. bat — the animal
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. clip — for paper

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