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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. capital — money
  4. mine — for digging
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. capital — a city
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. straw — a straw man

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