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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. race — humankind
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — child
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. file — a line of people
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. file — a tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tear — from crying
  15. perch — the fish
  16. deal — to handle
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. race — a contest
  20. file — a document
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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