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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. rest — a break
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — in control
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cap — a hat
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. charge — a price
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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