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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — a match
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — help
  7. chest — a box
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — bread
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. degree — an amount
  16. ball — a dance
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. kid — to tease
  23. fork — in a road
  24. chest — of your body

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