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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bound — certain
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — a box
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. capital — money
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — tied together
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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