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 · kick · last · wind · wound · craft · sharp · cold

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. kick — in football
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. sharp — clever
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. craft — boats
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. craft — a skill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. last — finally
  24. wind — moving air

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