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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — to tease
  3. squash — the sport
  4. rash — hasty
  5. key — in music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. key — for a lock
  10. game — a match
  11. kid — child
  12. spell — magic
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rash — a series
  15. game — wild animals
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. key — the most important part
  23. squash — to crush
  24. shower — rain

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