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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rule — government
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. present — the time now
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — a law
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. present — a gift
  16. cold — not warm
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. present — there
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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