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: mine · last · chip · bulb · cold · court · branch · stand

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mine — for digging
  4. court — of a king
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — finally
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — for sport
  9. stand — to bear
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bulb — for light
  13. chip — for betting
  14. court — of law
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. last — final
  23. branch — a division
  24. chip — in a computer

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