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 · saw · mark · cold · march · chest · shower · fine

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fine — all right
  3. saw — the tool
  4. march — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chest — a box
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mark — a grade
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fine — high quality
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. mark — a trace
  19. shower — to wash
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. shower — rain
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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