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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. squash — to crush
  5. content — the amount
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. fall — the season
  12. game — a match
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fall — to drop
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. plane — an aircraft

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