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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. bat — the animal
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. spell — letters
  5. rash — hasty
  6. race — humankind
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. race — a contest
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. spell — magic
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. rash — a series
  21. race — the arms race
  22. kick — in football
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. degree — from a university

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