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 · march · craft · clip · capital · safe · vault · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chest — of your body
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — music
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. march — the month
  14. chest — a box
  15. vault — a safe
  16. clip — a video
  17. march — the month
  18. craft — boats
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. clip — to cut
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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