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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. hand — in cards
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. ground — crushed
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. swing — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kid — child
  10. degree — an amount
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. ground — a position
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. race — the arms race
  16. degree — from a university
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. swing — to play on
  21. ground — the earth
  22. hand — help
  23. race — a contest
  24. kick — in football

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