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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. chest — a box
  11. mug — a face
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. mug — to rob
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — an illness

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