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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. staff — a stick
  6. staff — employees
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. perch — the fish
  17. game — a match
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hand — in cards
  24. staff — employees

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