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 · clip · spring · board · capital · mug · race · court

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. capital — money
  3. race — humankind
  4. mug — a face
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — for paper
  9. board — to get on
  10. bat — the animal
  11. race — a contest
  12. mug — a cup
  13. clip — a video
  14. capital — a city
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — of a king
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. court — of law
  19. race — the arms race
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. spring — the season
  22. court — for sport
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. mug — to rob

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