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: dip · race · can · root · land · cold · kid · bat

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — ground
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. land — to come down
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. root — the cause
  11. race — the arms race
  12. root — of a word
  13. cold — an illness
  14. can — to be able to
  15. root — of a plant
  16. can — a tin
  17. dip — to sink
  18. kid — child
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. land — a country
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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