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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. file — a tool
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. degree — an amount
  5. lean — thin
  6. fall — the season
  7. bound — obliged
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — a phone
  10. lean — to bend
  11. pop — music
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pop — soda
  14. file — a document
  15. fall — to drop
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pop — to visit
  18. bound — tied together
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bound — certain
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cell — in a prison

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