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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. cold — not warm
  5. field — a subject
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. bat — the animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. field — farmland
  16. snap — to click
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. capital — a city
  21. cold — an illness
  22. capital — money
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — lets stay

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