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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — a gift
  5. charge — a price
  6. club — for dancing
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — not warm
  9. present — there
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — the season
  13. chair — a leader
  14. club — for golf
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. club — a group
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. spring — of water
  21. charge — electricity
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. charge — in control

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