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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hand — help
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. last — to go on
  5. fall — the season
  6. club — for golf
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. club — a group
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. march — the month
  13. club — for dancing
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fall — to drop
  17. march — the month
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. march — music
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wound — an injury

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