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: wind · chair · cold · stock · pound · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — the fruit
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stock — shares
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stock — goods

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