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: hand · deal · cue · cell · date · tube · capital · chair

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. chair — a leader
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cue — for pool
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cue — a hint
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cell — in biology
  14. capital — money
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. tube — the underground
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. capital — a city
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. date — the fruit
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the body

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