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

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cold — an illness
  5. land — a country
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — to tire
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rock — a stone
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bore — to drill
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tear — from crying
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. rock — music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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