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: bat · fork · rule · sharp · cold · club · chair · race

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. cold — not warm
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. race — the arms race
  8. club — for golf
  9. chair — a leader
  10. race — humankind
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. club — a group
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. sharp — clever
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. race — a contest

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