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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. last — to go on
  3. kid — child
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fall — to drop
  7. last — finally
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fall — the season
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — the animal
  19. staff — employees
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. last — final
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stem — a stem cell

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