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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — to tease
  14. game — wild animals
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — child
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bark — to shout
  23. game — a match
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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