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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. hand — in cards
  5. track — a path
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. chip — to eat
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. rash — a series
  11. track — a song
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. track — to keep track
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. shower — rain
  24. hand — part of the body

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