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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fine — high quality
  3. kid — child
  4. squash — to crush
  5. content — happy
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bat — the animal
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. content — the amount
  13. fine — all right
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. land — ground
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — help
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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