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 120 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: hand · bound · land · cold · lean · drill · bass · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. land — to come down
  4. drill — army training
  5. bound — certain
  6. hand — help
  7. drill — a practice
  8. land — a country
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to bend
  11. land — ground
  12. bound — obliged
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. hand — in cards
  17. last — to go on
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bass — low music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. last — finally
  22. bound — tied together
  23. drill — the tool
  24. bass — the fish

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