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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fine — high quality
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. swing — in golf
  5. capital — a city
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. game — a match
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. capital — money
  12. bat — the animal
  13. club — for dancing
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — a group
  16. fine — all right
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. game — wild animals
  23. swing — music
  24. bat — for baseball

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