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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — an illness
  4. saw — the tool
  5. current — happening now
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mate — a friend
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — not warm
  13. court — of a king
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. mate — to breed
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rock — a stone
  21. current — of water
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. deal — to handle
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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