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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. cold — not warm
  4. content — the amount
  5. hand — help
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ball — a dance
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cold — an illness
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. hand — in cards
  14. swing — music
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. content — happy
  18. scale — in music
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bat — the animal
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. swing — to play on

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