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: lean · cold · press · content · bay · date · last · ground

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — crushed
  5. press — a publisher
  6. ground — the earth
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. content — happy
  10. last — final
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. date — the fruit
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — the amount
  21. press — to push
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cold — an illness

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