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 120 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. can — a tin
  3. chair — a leader
  4. rash — a series
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tear — from crying
  7. can — a tin
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pound — a weight
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. can — to be able to
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. game — a match
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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