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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. last — to go on
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. march — music
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. last — final
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. last — finally
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. march — the month

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