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 had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bore — to tire
  6. spell — letters
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. court — for sport
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. court — of a king
  17. prune — to trim
  18. land — ground
  19. court — of law
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to drill
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. spell — magic

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