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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. bass — low music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — a song
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kid — child
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — a partner
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — a tool
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mate — to breed
  21. track — a path
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. bat — the animal
  24. leaves — lets stay

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