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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — a phone
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — a city
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. rest — what's left
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. game — a match
  13. capital — money
  14. rest — a break
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass

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