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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. season — in sport
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. chip — for betting
  7. capital — a city
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. plane — a tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — there
  18. present — a gift
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. present — the time now
  21. season — of the year
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — in an idiom

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