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: cold · ball · file · wave · arm · shower · mate · face

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. ball — a great time
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. shower — rain
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — an illness
  18. file — a line of people
  19. mate — a partner
  20. ball — a dance
  21. face — part of the head
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. file — a tool
  24. mate — a friend

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