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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ball — a great time
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ground — the earth
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. kid — child
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pound — a weight
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — a position
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — for digging
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cell — in a prison

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