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 120 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: wind · stock · cold · hand · last · pop · pitcher · calf

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — soda
  9. last — to go on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — help
  13. stock — shares
  14. wind — moving air
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pop — music
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. stock — goods
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. hand — in cards

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