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 120 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: mouse · kid · fall · clip · cold · swing · race · pop

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. race — the arms race
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. pop — music
  5. fall — the season
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pop — soda
  8. swing — in golf
  9. race — a contest
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pop — to visit
  17. swing — to play on
  18. kid — to tease
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — child
  22. swing — music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. fall — to drop

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