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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. race — humankind
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — a box
  6. cell — a phone
  7. race — a contest
  8. shower — rain
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. rule — government
  11. chest — of your body
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. press — newspapers
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rule — a law
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. press — to push
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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