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: snap · cell · capital · shower · wave · straw

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. shower — rain
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. snap — to click
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — money
  18. cell — a phone

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