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: pitch · race · chair · lie · shower · cold

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — rain
  3. lie — to recline
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — not warm
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. race — humankind
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. lie — an untruth

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