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: race · bass · rash · capital · bat · wind · kid · mine

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bass — low music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. race — a contest
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rash — hasty
  17. capital — a city
  18. kid — child
  19. wind — moving air
  20. capital — money
  21. bat — the animal
  22. race — the arms race
  23. rash — a series
  24. capital — a big letter

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