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: stock · content · face · perch · bowl · cold · kick · last

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. last — finally
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. last — final
  5. face — to point toward
  6. perch — the fish
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stock — goods
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. kick — in football
  13. last — to go on
  14. content — happy
  15. face — part of the head
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. stock — shares
  19. content — the amount
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — to confront
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kick — with a leg

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