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: pitcher · lie · game · scale · last · cold · date · band

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. last — finally
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. game — wild animals
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. scale — in music
  18. lie — to recline
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. last — final
  24. lie — an untruth

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