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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. rash — hasty
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. race — a contest
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. degree — from a university
  12. content — happy
  13. rash — a series
  14. court — for sport
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. court — of law
  17. file — a document
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. court — of a king
  22. file — a tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. content — the amount

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