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: cold · cabinet · chair · mine · kid · board · rule · ball

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. rule — government
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rule — a law
  15. board — to get on
  16. ball — a dance
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ball — a great time
  24. chair — to sit on

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