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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — not warm
  7. shower — to wash
  8. content — happy
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. foot — a measure
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hand — help
  14. wax — to grow
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. race — humankind
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. content — the amount
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. chest — a box
  24. hand — in cards

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