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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. wound — an injury
  6. object — a thing
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bass — the fish
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. wound — an injury
  14. last — to go on
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — low music
  17. perch — the fish
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — to protest
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hide — to keep secret

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