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: tube · capital · rule · jam · cold · clip · charge · straw

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. charge — electricity
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — to cut
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. capital — money
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — the underground
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. rule — a law
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a city
  18. charge — a price
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. charge — in control
  21. rule — government
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. clip — a video

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