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: stock · sharp · cold · swing · land · pound · club · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. sharp — clever
  3. land — to come down
  4. swing — music
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. club — for dancing
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — goods
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. land — a country
  19. club — for golf
  20. stock — shares
  21. pound — a weight
  22. land — ground
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. club — a group

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