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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — a gift
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. branch — a division
  8. present — there
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kid — to tease
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cold — an illness
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. saw — the tool
  19. present — the time now
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rock — music
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rock — a stone

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