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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. shower — rain
  7. press — to push
  8. bass — the fish
  9. press — a publisher
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — money
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. object — an aim
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. object — a thing
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. shower — to wash
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. press — newspapers
  24. trunk — of a tree

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