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: chest · stick · bat · arm · wake · wind · vault · cold

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — a box
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. wake — a trail
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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