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: stand · pop · bear · content · nail · game · cold · ball

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — the amount
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pop — music
  7. game — a match
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. cold — an illness
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bear — the animal
  18. ball — a dance
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stand — to bear
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bear — the animal
  24. game — a kind of play

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