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: kick · arm · game · cabinet · field · hand · race · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. hand — in cards
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. hand — help
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. kick — in football
  15. field — for sport
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. game — a match
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. race — the arms race
  24. hand — part of the body

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