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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. spring — a coil
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. race — a contest
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — the arms race
  14. capital — money
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. race — humankind
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. temple — a place of worship

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