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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. straw — a straw man
  2. content — the amount
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. content — happy
  11. capital — a city
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. hand — help
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cell — in biology
  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