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: kid · mark · chest · clip · chair · ground · stock · content

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mark — a trace
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. stock — goods
  7. clip — a video
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. chair — a leader
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ground — a position
  18. stock — shares
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mark — a grade
  22. kid — to tease
  23. content — happy
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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