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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. season — in sport
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — part of the head
  7. court — for sport
  8. key — in music
  9. mine — for digging
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — the most important part
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. court — of law
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wound — an injury
  22. court — of a king
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitch — completely

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