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: press · game · chair · bat · chest · plane · shower · mate

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bat — the animal
  4. shower — rain
  5. game — wild animals
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. chair — a leader
  8. mate — a friend
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mate — a partner
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. press — newspapers
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. press — to push
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. press — a publisher
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chest — a box
  24. plane — a tool

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