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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. roll — a cake
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cap — a lid
  5. ball — a dance
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cap — of ice
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to sink
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. roll — a list
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. ball — a great time
  21. sharp — clever
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. cap — a hat

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