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 116 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: cold · last · mine · mug · march · season · current · wound

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. 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. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. mug — to rob
  6. wound — an injury
  7. current — happening now
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. current — electric
  10. current — of water
  11. mug — a cup
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — finally
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. march — music
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. season — of the year
  21. march — the month
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mug — a face
  24. 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