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: prune · track · bass · spell · scale · cold · kid · wind

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bass — the fish
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. scale — size or range
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cold — not warm
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. scale — in music
  20. spell — magic
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. track — to keep track

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