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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. squash — to crush
  3. court — for sport
  4. saw — the tool
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cell — a phone
  7. kid — child
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of a king
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. saw — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kick — in football
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cell — in biology
  24. squash — the vegetable

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