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: key · wind · ground · chest · content · cold · race · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — humankind
  8. pit — in a race
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. race — a contest
  12. ground — a position
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — a box
  16. key — for a lock
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. key — the most important part
  21. key — in music
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cold — not warm

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