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 120 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cold — not warm
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rash — hasty
  13. can — to be able to
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. can — a tin
  16. perch — the fish
  17. can — a tin
  18. chest — a box
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. mine — for digging
  21. ball — a great time
  22. rash — a series
  23. ball — a dance
  24. chest — of your body

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