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: mate · prune · chair · bowl · mine · cold · plane · kid

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cold — not warm
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. mate — a friend
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. kid — child
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. plane — a tool
  19. mine — for digging
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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