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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. ground — the earth
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. hand — help
  9. content — the amount
  10. chair — a leader
  11. club — for golf
  12. hand — in cards
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. ground — crushed
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ground — a position
  22. club — a group
  23. content — happy
  24. pound — a weight

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