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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. march — music
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. march — the month
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kid — to tease
  9. present — the time now
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — child
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. rush — hurry
  22. present — there
  23. stand — to bear
  24. bat — the animal

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