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: stem · can · face · pitch · game · cold · kid · wound

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a match
  5. can — to be able to
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pitch — completely
  13. can — a tin
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. face — to confront
  18. stem — to come from
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kid — to tease
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. face — to point toward
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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