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: game · cold · pitch · deal · bark · snap · pass · rule

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. game — wild animals
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pitch — completely
  12. game — a match
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. rule — a law
  21. deal — to handle
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. rule — government
  24. pass — to succeed

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