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: bat · last · fine · capital · clip · saw · chest · present

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. last — to go on
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. present — the time now
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bat — the animal
  18. present — there
  19. chest — a box
  20. fine — high quality
  21. present — a gift
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. fine — all right

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