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: wound · saw · cold · pitch · mine · stick · club · fan

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. club — a group
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. club — for dancing
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wound — an injury

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