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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bound — certain
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wound — an injury
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. land — ground
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. kid — child
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — tied together

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