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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · field · bass · race · capital · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. field — farmland
  3. chair — a leader
  4. race — a contest
  5. chest — a box
  6. capital — a city
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. field — a subject
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. capital — money
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bass — low music
  17. race — humankind
  18. bass — the fish

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