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: chest · bat · straw · press · spell · board · clip · season

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. board — a committee
  5. season — in sport
  6. board — to get on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spell — a short time
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — to push
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. press — newspapers
  17. chest — a box
  18. season — of the year
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. press — a publisher

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