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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: object · fork · stock · wind · kid · cold

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — to protest
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. object — a thing
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fork — in a road
  9. stock — shares
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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