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: face · press · band · dip · bat · cold · temple · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. face — to confront
  3. bat — the animal
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. band — a ring
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. face — part of the head
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — an illness
  18. press — to push
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. dip — to sink
  21. press — newspapers
  22. face — to point toward
  23. band — a music group
  24. game — wild animals

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