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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. drill — the tool
  3. tear — to rip
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. root — the cause
  9. rock — a stone
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — of a word
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tear — from crying
  15. march — music
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rock — music
  18. march — the month
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. kid — child
  24. tear — from crying

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