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: chair · mark · pit · chest · fan · capital · last · bat

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pit — in a race
  10. last — final
  11. capital — money
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. last — finally
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. capital — a city
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. last — to go on
  22. mark — a trace
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. chest — a box

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