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 120 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rash — hasty
  5. court — for sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. chest — a box
  8. net — after costs
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. march — the month
  11. court — of law
  12. kick — in football
  13. pound — a weight
  14. last — finally
  15. court — of a king
  16. chest — of your body
  17. last — to go on
  18. march — the month
  19. net — in sport
  20. rash — a series
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. last — final
  23. march — music
  24. pound — to hit hard

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