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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. march — the month
  3. chair — a leader
  4. net — for catching
  5. tear — to rip
  6. march — the month
  7. spell — letters
  8. march — music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spell — magic
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. plane — a tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — in sport
  21. kid — child
  22. spell — a short time
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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