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: sharp · bark · club · cold · dip · ball · bat · bass

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bass — low music
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ball — a great time
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bass — the fish
  20. ball — a dance
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. sharp — exactly

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