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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. track — a song
  4. track — a path
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — to get on
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. track — to keep track
  9. chest — of your body
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. capital — a city
  15. row — a line
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. row — to paddle
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — money
  24. perch — the fish

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