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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chest — a box
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. scale — size or range
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. scale — in music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. spring — a coil
  12. kick — in football
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. press — a publisher
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rock — music
  17. season — in sport
  18. press — to push
  19. spring — of water
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. season — of the year
  22. bat — the animal
  23. press — newspapers
  24. spring — the season

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