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 120 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: land · arm · season · plane · bat · cold

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. land — to come down
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. land — a country
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — the animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. land — ground
  14. plane — a tool
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. season — of the year
  18. arm — a part of something

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