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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  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. club — a group
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. root — of a plant
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. kid — to tease
  9. hand — help
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. club — for golf
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — certain
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. root — the cause
  18. net — in sport
  19. club — for dancing
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bound — tied together
  22. root — of a word
  23. bound — obliged
  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