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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. face — part of the head
  3. press — a publisher
  4. row — a line
  5. face — to point toward
  6. press — newspapers
  7. capital — a city
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. capital — money
  10. bark — to shout
  11. press — to push
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. face — to confront

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