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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. land — a country
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — child
  9. spring — the season
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — to come down
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. tube — a container
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. land — ground
  24. rule — government

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