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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. pop — to visit
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. chest — of your body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. march — the month
  16. pop — music
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. chest — a box
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. march — music

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