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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. kid — child
  3. squash — the sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. last — final
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. race — the arms race
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. charge — a price
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. last — to go on
  14. race — a contest
  15. last — finally
  16. charge — in control
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — to cut
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. squash — to crush
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. charge — electricity

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