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: fan · file · mate · march · cold · stand · wound · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. file — a document
  6. stand — to bear
  7. file — a tool
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. mate — a friend
  14. march — music
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. file — a line of people
  17. march — the month
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mate — a partner

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