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: straw · vault · cell · face · wind · hand · kid · capital

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. capital — a city
  5. cell — a phone
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cell — in biology
  8. hand — in cards
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kid — to tease
  15. capital — money
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. face — part of the head
  20. vault — a safe
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. hand — help

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