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: bass · band · capital · chair · chest · spell · craft · field

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. field — farmland
  4. chest — of your body
  5. craft — boats
  6. chair — a leader
  7. band — a ring
  8. spell — magic
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chest — a box
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — the fish
  14. field — a subject
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. band — a music group
  17. capital — money
  18. craft — a skill
  19. chest — of your body
  20. field — for sport
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. bass — low music

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