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: scale · snap · cold · kid · straw · branch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. kid — child
  3. cold — not warm
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. kid — to tease
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. scale — size or range
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. scale — in music
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. branch — a division
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. snap — to click
  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