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 · cold · stock · face · mouse · wave · roll · wind

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. roll — a list
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — not warm
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. face — part of the head
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. face — to confront
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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