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: press · sharp · net · rush · last · chest · ground · cell

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cell — a phone
  7. press — to push
  8. net — for catching
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chest — a box
  11. ground — a position
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. sharp — clever
  14. chest — of your body
  15. press — a publisher
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. press — newspapers
  20. cell — in biology
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — in sport
  24. last — final

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