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: date · roll · patient · march · court · saw · bat · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. bat — the animal
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. court — of law
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — a cake
  12. march — music
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. march — the month
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. saw — the tool
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — an illness
  20. date — the fruit
  21. court — for sport
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. saw — the tool
  24. patient — a sick person

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