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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wound — an injury
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. race — humankind
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cue — for pool
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cue — a signal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. race — a contest
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pit — in a race

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