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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rash — hasty
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rash — a series
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. deal — to handle
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. game — a match
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. pound — a weight
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to click

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