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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. squash — to crush
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fine — all right
  8. rule — a law
  9. drill — army training
  10. bat — the animal
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chest — a box
  13. drill — the tool
  14. squash — the sport
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. chest — of your body
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rule — government
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. fine — a penalty

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