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: root · squash · march · cold · lie · game · chest · season

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. lie — to recline
  6. root — of a plant
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. game — a match
  10. cold — an illness
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. march — music
  14. chest — a box
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. season — of the year
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chest — of your body
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. root — of a word
  22. chest — of your body
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — not warm

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