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 · present · kid · racket · degree · race · wind · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. present — there
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — the earth
  11. present — a gift
  12. ground — a position
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chair — a leader
  19. present — the time now
  20. wind — moving air
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. race — humankind
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. racket — for tennis

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