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: ground · bass · last · sharp · coach · pass · hide · mine

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bass — low music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. last — finally
  6. bass — the fish
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. ground — a position
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. last — to go on
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. sharp — clever
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pass — a permit
  21. last — final
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ground — the earth
  24. pass — to spend time

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