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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. squash — the sport
  4. content — happy
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — the season
  9. bass — low music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cold — an illness
  14. content — the amount
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bass — the fish
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — part of the head
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hand — help

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