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 116 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. object — an aim
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. vault — a safe
  6. object — to protest
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. kid — to tease
  10. object — a thing
  11. mine — for digging
  12. present — a gift
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. bass — low music
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bass — the fish
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. present — the time now

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