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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. spell — a short time
  4. chip — to eat
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. field — for sport
  8. game — a match
  9. spell — magic
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. spell — letters
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. game — wild animals

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