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: row · pitch · present · chest · straw · race · pop · hand

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. pop — soda
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — the arms race
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. race — a contest
  12. chest — a box
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. chest — of your body
  15. present — there
  16. present — the time now
  17. pop — music
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. race — humankind
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. pop — to visit
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. hand — part of the body

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