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: arm · snap · race · degree · chair · hide · craft · file

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. chair — a leader
  4. degree — an amount
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. craft — boats
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — a skill
  11. race — a contest
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. file — a document
  15. degree — from a university
  16. snap — to click
  17. race — humankind
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. file — a line of people
  20. degree — temperature
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. race — the arms race
  23. file — a tool
  24. hide — to keep secret

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