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 120 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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. game — a match
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. capital — money
  17. bat — the animal
  18. game — wild animals
  19. board — a committee
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. chest — a box
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a city

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