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: ground · pit · lash · game · chest · bat · fall · tear

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fall — to drop
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pit — in a race
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. ground — a position
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. tear — to rip
  17. pit — a hole
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. ground — the earth
  21. chest — a box
  22. tear — from crying
  23. game — a match
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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