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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. spell — letters
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — the month
  9. race — a contest
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. hand — help
  12. march — the month
  13. snap — to click
  14. pitch — completely
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. march — music
  18. spell — magic
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. kid — child

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