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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. shower — rain
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. hand — help
  6. net — in sport
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rash — hasty
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. net — after costs
  11. rule — a law
  12. game — wild animals
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stem — to come from
  15. net — for catching
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. rash — a series
  18. chair — a leader
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rule — government
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — a match
  24. stem — of a plant

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