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: chair · chest · kick · land · stick · vault · cold · bark

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. land — ground
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bark — to shout
  14. land — to come down
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chest — a box
  21. land — a country
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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