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: degree · straw · bear · capital · swing · squash · content · court

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. content — happy
  3. swing — to play on
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bear — the animal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. capital — a city
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — from a university
  11. court — of a king
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. swing — music
  14. court — of law
  15. degree — an amount
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — money
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. squash — the sport
  21. content — the amount
  22. bear — the animal
  23. degree — temperature
  24. swing — in golf

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