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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bat — the animal
  4. shower — rain
  5. spell — letters
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. chest — a box
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. chip — to eat
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spell — a short time
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. dip — to sink
  19. spell — magic
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chest — of your body
  24. shower — to wash

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