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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. hand — help
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. race — a contest
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — wild animals
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. race — humankind
  11. content — the amount
  12. object — an aim
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. band — a music group
  15. bat — the animal
  16. content — happy
  17. hand — in cards
  18. race — the arms race
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — a thing
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. game — a match
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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