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: cold · trunk · game · kid · squash · hand · mug · face

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — a face
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a match
  8. face — part of the head
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. kid — child
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — an illness
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. hand — in cards
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cold — not warm
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. squash — to crush
  21. face — to confront
  22. mug — to rob
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. game — wild animals

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