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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. race — a contest
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — humankind
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cell — in biology
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. race — the arms race
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — from a university
  23. can — a tin
  24. cell — in a prison

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