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 water is too ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. last — finally
  5. face — to point toward
  6. swing — in golf
  7. rock — music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. last — final
  10. face — part of the head
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chip — to eat
  14. file — a tool
  15. rock — a stone
  16. swing — music
  17. face — to confront
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bark — to shout
  20. chip — for betting
  21. last — to go on
  22. file — a document
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. rock — to move gently

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