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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. net — in sport
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. land — to come down
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. rash — a series
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — after costs
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lie — to recline
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. land — a country

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