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: tear · root · race · pitch · net · hand · fan · perch

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. perch — the fish
  3. hand — help
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. net — in sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pitch — completely
  11. root — of a word
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. tear — from crying
  15. root — of a plant
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. race — the arms race
  18. root — the cause
  19. race — humankind
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. race — a contest

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