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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. press — a publisher
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bear — the animal
  11. press — newspapers
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kid — to tease
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. branch — a division
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. press — to push
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. chest — a box
  23. court — of a king
  24. kid — child

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