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: chair · fall · prune · rule · cold · land · mouse · bat

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. bat — the animal
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chair — a leader
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. land — to come down
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — government
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. fall — the season
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bat — in an idiom

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