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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · land · dip · bowl · cold · staff

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — in sport
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — employees
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. staff — a stick
  12. land — to come down
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cold — an illness

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