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: mark · cold · safe · field · capital · spring · chair · tube

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — farmland
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — for sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — a coil
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. cold — an illness
  10. capital — a city
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — the season
  13. chair — a leader
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. field — a subject
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. safe — out of danger

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