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: march · court · bound · straw · hide · wound · wind · row

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wound — an injury
  3. row — a line
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bound — tied together
  9. march — the month
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. court — of a king
  13. march — music
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bound — certain
  17. court — of law
  18. row — to paddle
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bound — obliged
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. court — for sport
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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