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 120 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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. tear — from crying
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. club — for golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — not warm
  17. club — for dancing
  18. vault — a safe
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. club — a group

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