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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. spring — of water
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — in football
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chest — of your body
  7. file — a tool
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. spring — the season
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chest — a box
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. hand — in cards

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