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

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a leader
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bear — the animal
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. land — a country
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. land — ground
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a music group
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. face — to confront
  16. land — to come down
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. chest — a box
  24. chair — to sit on

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