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: cold · content · pop · scale · net · lie · chest · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. net — in sport
  5. content — happy
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — for catching
  8. scale — in music
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — to visit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. net — after costs
  13. lie — to recline
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — soda
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. scale — size or range
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. chest — a box
  24. cold — the Cold War

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