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 · bear · race · jam · hand · march · file · content

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. race — humankind
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. march — the month
  5. hand — in cards
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. bear — the animal
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. hand — help
  13. bear — the animal
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. race — a contest
  19. chair — a leader
  20. file — a document
  21. content — happy
  22. race — the arms race
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — to sit on

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