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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. hand — in cards
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chest — a box
  8. bat — the animal
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — help

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