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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. hand — in cards
  3. press — a publisher
  4. game — a match
  5. chair — a leader
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. can — to be able to
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — newspapers
  14. race — humankind
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — a contest
  18. game — wild animals
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stand — to bear
  21. hand — help
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. press — to push

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